Sarah, Duchess of York dug out some precious childhood photographs as she congratulated Team GB on their first gold medal during the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The archive snaps on Instagram show Sarah as a young girl riding horses, including a sweet snap of her standing outside a stables, her red hair pushed back with a headband and sporting striped socks and red shoes.
Another black and white image shows the future Duchess wearing a pair of Harlequin-style tights and a collared button-up coat with a furry hat.
In an action shot, a teenage Sarah, clad in her riding gear and helmet, leans forward confidently on her horse.
© Instagram / @sarahferguson15In the caption, the Duchess, now 64, also revealed she had an ambitious dream as a child.
© Instagram / @sarahferguson15"Growing up riding my 12.2 pony called Spider, I always dreamed of winning a gold medal in Equestrian," she wrote, "So watching @teamgb and their brilliant riders achieve our first [gold medal] of the summer #Olympics yesterday was absolutely remarkable. Congratulations on such an amazing achievement. #eventing #England @laura_collett @tommceweneventing @ros_canter_eventing."
Childhood hobby
Sarah, who is the daughter of the late Major Ronald Ferguson and the late Sarah Barrantes, grew up at Dummer Down Farm in Hampshire.
The Duchess told Good Morning America in 2021 that horse riding got her through her parents' separation when her mother left her behind in the UK to start a new life with her second husband Hector Barrantes in Argentina.
"My ponies really helped me so much when my mother went to live in Argentina because they were my friends," she said, "They don't go anywhere and they didn't answer back. They are just so special."
© Instagram / @sarahferguson15Sarah revealed in 2019 that she underwent stem cell therapy in the Bahamas to improve her feet.
"I think my toes were ruined by all the riding I did when I was young," she said, "They shaved the bone here and implanted stem cells — 20 million of them taken from my midriff — into my feet to make new cartilage."
© AlamySarah married Prince Andrew in 1986 and the couple went on to have two children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie in 1988 and 1990 respectively.
The marriage broke down and their divorce was finalised in 1996, but Sarah and Andrew remain on good terms and even still live together at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
They are also grandparents to Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's daughter, Sienna, and Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's sons, August and Ernest.
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