Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, has reportedly been diagnosed with skin cancer earlier this year but is not undergoing treatment.
“I have to be checked regularly and I have to put cream on my face to get out past sun damage, which means big blisters on my face, chest and hands for three weeks,” Ferguson, 64, told in her cover story, published on Sunday, June 2.
“But I’m not doing immunotherapy, taking any drugs or doing chemotherapy, for which I’m very grateful.”
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, is facing her second cancer battle within a year. In June 2023, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and six months later, she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma.
“Her dermatologist asked that several moles were removed and analyzed at the same time as the Duchess was undergoing reconstructive surgery following her mastectomy, and one of these has been identified as cancerous,” a rep for the royal family member said in a statement.
In her profile, Sarah Ferguson mentioned that doctors advised against using the phrase “cancer-free,” but she remains optimistic about her health after overcoming both breast and skin cancer.
“I have the most exceptional family and I have an extraordinarily great team and I have an enormous ability to turn to joy,” she told the publication, noting that she’s always told daughters the truth about her health journey.
“I have always brought up my girls to be so honest and frank that they know I’m going to tell it to them straight, however difficult it is,” Ferguson told.
“So, when they said: ‘Mummy, tell us the absolute truth — have they got all the cancer out?’ and the answer was yes, they knew they were safe.”
During a recent TV appearance, Princess Beatrice, aged 35, shared that her mother, Sarah Ferguson, is “all in the clear” health-wise.
“She’s such a phenomenal icon. As a mum she’s been amazing, she’s been through so much and her sense of purpose and resilience really keeps me going,” Beatrice said.
“At 64 she’s thriving; she’s been through so much, but I think really now she’s coming into her own.”
It seems Ferguson agrees with her daughter.
“I think it woke me up,” she told about her cancer diagnoses. “It gave me a swift kick in the butt and told me: ‘Right, are you going to start living now, at 64, or are you going to keep on not quite living?’ You don’t have to be what everyone wants you to be: just be yourself.”
