• Posted June 26, 2023

Sarah Ferguson Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Mastectomy

Sarah Ferguson has undergone treatment for breast cancer, she announced on her podcast.

The Duchess of York, 63, had a mastectomy after the diagnosis and the surgery was successful, her rep confirmed Sunday, People magazine reported.

"The Duchess is receiving the best medical care and her doctors have told her that the prognosis is good. She is now recuperating with her family," the rep said. "The Duchess wants to express her immense gratitude to all the medical staff who have supported her in recent days."

Fergie, as she is popularly called, was previously married to Prince Andrew and is the mother of adult daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. The day before her surgery in England, she spoke about her cancer on the podcast “Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah.”

She urged people to “get checked” and credited her sister, Jane, for encouraging her, the magazine reported.

"It's very important that I speak about," Ferguson said on the podcast with her co-host Sarah Thomson.

Fergie said her sister Jane was "ringing me up about something else" when they began talking about the scheduled mammogram.

"It was a hot day and I didn't feel like going to London. It's easy to put it off — 'I'll do it next week,'" Ferguson said. "My sister, who's wonderful, from Australia, I always normally do what she says because she gets so cranky. She said, 'No — go. I need you to go. I need you to go.'"

"Thank you, Jane," she said. "I think it's so important you do talk about it."

Fergie gave a “shout out” to the public-funded National Health Service and the doctors, nurses and the hospital staff “that are working so hard to help me.”

She called the cancer “only a shadow” that wouldn't have been found without mammography screening because she was symptom-free.

Ferguson mentioned her father, who died of prostate cancer. She also talked about early detection.

“I am telling people out there because I want every single person that is listening to this podcast to go get checked, go get screened and go do it," Ferguson said.

Co-host Thomson also noted the statistics on cancer.

“The earlier your diagnosis, the much greater chance you have. Ninety-seven percent of people who then have early diagnosis, because of all the incredible new treatments, are still alive after five years,” Thomson said.

For the Duchess of York, this has been a wake-up call.

"I'm taking myself seriously,” she said. "I'm gonna go out there and get super fit and super well, super strong. And if I have to shout about this from the top of the mountains then I'll shout about it. Because I think it's vital that we need to wake everybody up to go screen, not just breast cancer. I'm talking prostate and all the checks."

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on mammograms.

SOURCE: People, June 26, 2023