Prince Andrew's Ex-Wife Sarah Ferguson Reminisces About Her Rags-to-Riches 'Cinderella' Wedding Moment

Sarah Ferguson is reminiscing about her fairytale wedding to Prince Andrew, likening her journey as a farmer’s daughter to a member of the royal family to that of Cinderella’s rags-to-riches story.

On Thursday’s episode of her podcast, Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah, Ferguson (known by many as her nickname, “Fergie”) recalled her wedding day and all that led up to her becoming the Duchess of York. “In 1986, the nation stopped and took a holiday on July 23 for the farmer’s daughter going up the aisle with an extraordinary tiara given by Her Majesty. It’s an extraordinary story of Cinderella,” she began.

“I wasn’t exactly milking the cows on the farm — it was a very lovely life I had — but my father still farmed,” Ferguson explained. “Up I went, up Westminster Abbey, and there at the end was the handsome prince with his full naval uniform on and the nation stopped. Westminster Abbey was just abuzz with belief,” she said of the wedding day magic.

She continued her oration down memory lane, remembering, “When I came down the stairs from Clarence House, where I spent the night before, everyone is going ‘Fergie! Fergie!’ on the streets. When I came down the stairs, there was my father at the bottom of the stairs. It was one of those moments… I was watching Cinderella with the girls the other day, Ella Enchanted. I did that! I had that moment,” Ferguson said in disbelief.

Remembering a conversation with her father, the duchess shared, “We got in our glass coach and Dad said to me, ‘What do we do now?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know, I’ve never done this before!’ and he said, ‘Well nor have I!’” Laughing, Ferguson added, “We just got on with it, and when we went into the abbey, we just got on with it. I was totally in love with my handsome prince, so there you have it,” she concluded.

Though Ferguson and Andrew separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996, they’ve remained close friends in the decades since — even through the disgraced prince’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent sexual abuse lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre. The former couple shares two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, as well as three grandchildren.