Sarah Ferguson has spoken candidly about her relationship with the late Queen as she reflected on her own experiences as a mother.
Sarah shares two children with ex-husband Prince Andrew – Beatrice, 34, and Eugenie, 33, and is set to become a grandmother for the third time in the coming months. Watch her talk about Andrew as a grandfather in the video below...
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Sarah admitted: "One of the best jobs I've ever done, though, is being a mother. I'm very present.
"When my children were little, I spent time with them, focusing on them and listening to them. I would help them understand and label their feelings."
© Tim GrahamShe continued: "One reason I'm a good mother is because my mother wasn't present at all — she left me when I was 12 [to move to South America], so I know what it's like to be brought up without a mother.
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"That's why the Queen was so amazing, because she was more of a mother to me than my own."
© Photo: Getty ImagesSarah was the second daughter of Major Ronald Ferguson and Susan Barrantes. They divorced in 1974 with Susan going on to elope with polo player Hector Barrantes and leave her family to move to Argentina.
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After Hector's death, she became a film producer in Buenos Aires. She died in a car crash in 1998 at the age of 61.
© Tim GrahamDuring a previous appearance on the Tea with Twiggy podcast, Sarah reflected: "Because I went through so much pain losing Mum, I lost my way and I became deeply, deeply insecure. I kept asking everybody for advice. And I never trusted my own judgement of myself.
"I have got my lovely ex-husband [Prince] Andrew – he always believes in me and always did believe in me. But my greatest mentor – and I know this sounds so weird to say it – and person who believes in me is the Queen and has never faltered."
Just last week, Sarah again spoke out in praise of Prince Andrew, who she described as a "kind, good man".
© Getty"I think the spotlight needs to come off him and let him get on with his life to rebuild,” she said, during an appearance on Thursday's Good Morning Britain.
When asked about whether she will attend King Charles's coronation on 6 May, the 63-year-old author replied: "No I'm not actually. It's a state occasion, being divorced I don't think you can have it both ways. I'm loving being divorced to my ex-husband, not from my new husband, just to differentiate."
