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American Morning

Interview With Sarah Ferguson

Aired January 24, 2003 - 09:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hard to believe that almost two decades have passed since Sarah Ferguson first appeared on the world stage as a royal bride to be.
Her struggles throughout the years have been very well documented indeed, such as trying to keep her weight down and her self-esteem up.

Now, the duchess of York is older and wiser, and she shares her experience in a new book. It is called "What I Now Know: Simple Lessons Learned the Hard Way."

Sarah Ferguson joins us now -- welcome back, skinny duchess of York.

SARAH FERGUSON, DUCHESS OF YORK: Oh, we love that word skinny.

ZAHN: Let me ask you this. It seems to me you just can't catch a break. You do the weight watchers, and they say you're selling out. You write this book, they tell you you're too young to be writing a book like this. When are they going to give you a break?

FERGUSON: And they also say, why are you washing your laundry in public? Why do you keep talking about all of the things you've been through? And I say, because everyone else is writing about them, so I might as well write about them, too.

And my girls say, Mom, it's great that you've written a book about mistakes, because it is not about lessons, it's about mistakes. And that is what life is about, really.

ZAHN: What is the biggest mistake you've made?

FERGUSON: Oh, I've made so many. It's not really about the biggest mistake, it's what did I learn from being at the rock bottom, being overweight by 210 pounds, being -- being humiliated and -- I just did all of this to myself. Biggest lesson I learned from it was, when was I going to wake up to myself?

ZAHN: Well, you might have done it to yourself, but there certainly was a lot of pressure around you. The press came after you, and in a pretty violent way.

FERGUSON: But thank heavens they did, Paula. Because now, it is such a relief, because what they wrote was, in fact, what has really helped me because it made me get really deep into myself, and clear away all of the darkness.

ZAHN: So the "duchess of pork" line saved you?

FERGUSON: It did. Yes it did. Can you believe I met him last year?

ZAHN: She actually -- you actually caught up with the writer of the article who called you the duchess of pork. Now, that had to sting when you heard it the first time.

FERGUSON: It was just like -- I mean, can you imagine? It was like I said in the book about Dorothy seeing Oz, and this great big Oz, and here, he had written the "duchess of pork." I mean, I really believed he was right. For ten years, I believed this man was right.

ZAHN: So what did you say to him when you saw him for the first time?

FERGUSON: I said, Oh, so you're the man who -- it's in the book -- I said, You're the man that ruined my sleep and took away my life for the last ten years?

ZAHN: And he gleefully said?

FERGUSON: And he smiled and said, Yes. Yes, well, it is fun, isn't it? I've known you for a long time, and it's like history.

And I went, Well, I just want to say, thank you so much because you have really helped me, and he went, Oh, I didn't mean to -- I didn't mean to upset. I was just doing my job.

ZAHN: Now, at the same time that that was going on, you had a deal with problems with the royal family, and they were pushing you further and further away. Why were you so toxic?

FERGUSON: Because that is the way I am. There is lots of people -- when you walk into a room, Paula anywhere, guaranteed that 50 percent won't like you and 50 percent will. And so, I just accept that, and I think that I believe very much in truth, and I believe in honesty, and I believe in being yourself, not putting on a face. I am just me. So, it is very difficult to have to be somebody else when I'm like that.

ZAHN: But there were many attempts to crush your independence, were there not, when you were living in that fish bowl? How do they want you to behave?

FERGUSON: I think -- I think when you marry into the royal family, it's very important to realize that that is what you're doing. You are doing -- that is what you do. You marry, you get on with it, and you follow the rule book.

ZAHN: Let's talk about James Hewitt for a moment.

FERGUSON: Paula, good subject.

ZAHN: He is talking about selling the love letters that were written between Princess Diana and himself. He's saying maybe they should end up in the British Museum. Where do you think they should end up, and how angry are you that he potentially could be selling these letters?

FERGUSON: Well, I'm not angry at him at all because I feel very sorry for a person that can do that, because he's going to have to come many lives to sort out that kind of karma, isn't it? Because betrayal is the ultimate sin, I think -- I mean, one of the ultimate sins.

You must never betray what you've cherished as a great love. And by telling the world of what she wrote in private is betrayal. And I know Diana would mind very, very much about that, because so often, she said to me, I hate it when I write letters and people read other people's letters.

ZAHN: Well, she had already felt violated by him while she was alive, didn't she...

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: She is not here to say. But all I will say, Paula, is that I think it is -- I think that James Hewitt has got to answer to himself, to thine own self be true, for his behavior in betraying Diana, who is not here to defend herself.

ZAHN: We are going to get real personal here. Are you still living with your ex-husband? That is an arrangement, I think, that some Americans find quite odd.

FERGUSON: I know. It's not just Americans, it's the whole world who thinks it is very strange that a divorced couple should live in the same room -- not the same room -- in the same house, right.

And quite frankly, I don't think it's odd at all. But I have now got my own house, I have got my -- I live next door, and it's really nice.

ZAHN: And your girls are very happy, right?

FERGUSON: They're so happy because Andrew and I share co- parenting, we share good boundaries, and the girls are shining because of it.

ZAHN: The name of the book is "What I Now Know: Simple Lessons Learned the Hard Way." The very hard way. Great to see you.

FERGUSON: Very hard.

ZAHN: Best of luck to you. She has a new television show coming out and rolling next fall. We would love to talk to you before then. Thanks for dropping by.

FERGUSON: Thanks, Paula.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 24, 2003 - 09:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hard to believe that almost two decades have passed since Sarah Ferguson first appeared on the world stage as a royal bride to be.
Her struggles throughout the years have been very well documented indeed, such as trying to keep her weight down and her self-esteem up.

Now, the duchess of York is older and wiser, and she shares her experience in a new book. It is called "What I Now Know: Simple Lessons Learned the Hard Way."

Sarah Ferguson joins us now -- welcome back, skinny duchess of York.

SARAH FERGUSON, DUCHESS OF YORK: Oh, we love that word skinny.

ZAHN: Let me ask you this. It seems to me you just can't catch a break. You do the weight watchers, and they say you're selling out. You write this book, they tell you you're too young to be writing a book like this. When are they going to give you a break?

FERGUSON: And they also say, why are you washing your laundry in public? Why do you keep talking about all of the things you've been through? And I say, because everyone else is writing about them, so I might as well write about them, too.

And my girls say, Mom, it's great that you've written a book about mistakes, because it is not about lessons, it's about mistakes. And that is what life is about, really.

ZAHN: What is the biggest mistake you've made?

FERGUSON: Oh, I've made so many. It's not really about the biggest mistake, it's what did I learn from being at the rock bottom, being overweight by 210 pounds, being -- being humiliated and -- I just did all of this to myself. Biggest lesson I learned from it was, when was I going to wake up to myself?

ZAHN: Well, you might have done it to yourself, but there certainly was a lot of pressure around you. The press came after you, and in a pretty violent way.

FERGUSON: But thank heavens they did, Paula. Because now, it is such a relief, because what they wrote was, in fact, what has really helped me because it made me get really deep into myself, and clear away all of the darkness.

ZAHN: So the "duchess of pork" line saved you?

FERGUSON: It did. Yes it did. Can you believe I met him last year?

ZAHN: She actually -- you actually caught up with the writer of the article who called you the duchess of pork. Now, that had to sting when you heard it the first time.

FERGUSON: It was just like -- I mean, can you imagine? It was like I said in the book about Dorothy seeing Oz, and this great big Oz, and here, he had written the "duchess of pork." I mean, I really believed he was right. For ten years, I believed this man was right.

ZAHN: So what did you say to him when you saw him for the first time?

FERGUSON: I said, Oh, so you're the man who -- it's in the book -- I said, You're the man that ruined my sleep and took away my life for the last ten years?

ZAHN: And he gleefully said?

FERGUSON: And he smiled and said, Yes. Yes, well, it is fun, isn't it? I've known you for a long time, and it's like history.

And I went, Well, I just want to say, thank you so much because you have really helped me, and he went, Oh, I didn't mean to -- I didn't mean to upset. I was just doing my job.

ZAHN: Now, at the same time that that was going on, you had a deal with problems with the royal family, and they were pushing you further and further away. Why were you so toxic?

FERGUSON: Because that is the way I am. There is lots of people -- when you walk into a room, Paula anywhere, guaranteed that 50 percent won't like you and 50 percent will. And so, I just accept that, and I think that I believe very much in truth, and I believe in honesty, and I believe in being yourself, not putting on a face. I am just me. So, it is very difficult to have to be somebody else when I'm like that.

ZAHN: But there were many attempts to crush your independence, were there not, when you were living in that fish bowl? How do they want you to behave?

FERGUSON: I think -- I think when you marry into the royal family, it's very important to realize that that is what you're doing. You are doing -- that is what you do. You marry, you get on with it, and you follow the rule book.

ZAHN: Let's talk about James Hewitt for a moment.

FERGUSON: Paula, good subject.

ZAHN: He is talking about selling the love letters that were written between Princess Diana and himself. He's saying maybe they should end up in the British Museum. Where do you think they should end up, and how angry are you that he potentially could be selling these letters?

FERGUSON: Well, I'm not angry at him at all because I feel very sorry for a person that can do that, because he's going to have to come many lives to sort out that kind of karma, isn't it? Because betrayal is the ultimate sin, I think -- I mean, one of the ultimate sins.

You must never betray what you've cherished as a great love. And by telling the world of what she wrote in private is betrayal. And I know Diana would mind very, very much about that, because so often, she said to me, I hate it when I write letters and people read other people's letters.

ZAHN: Well, she had already felt violated by him while she was alive, didn't she...

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: She is not here to say. But all I will say, Paula, is that I think it is -- I think that James Hewitt has got to answer to himself, to thine own self be true, for his behavior in betraying Diana, who is not here to defend herself.

ZAHN: We are going to get real personal here. Are you still living with your ex-husband? That is an arrangement, I think, that some Americans find quite odd.

FERGUSON: I know. It's not just Americans, it's the whole world who thinks it is very strange that a divorced couple should live in the same room -- not the same room -- in the same house, right.

And quite frankly, I don't think it's odd at all. But I have now got my own house, I have got my -- I live next door, and it's really nice.

ZAHN: And your girls are very happy, right?

FERGUSON: They're so happy because Andrew and I share co- parenting, we share good boundaries, and the girls are shining because of it.

ZAHN: The name of the book is "What I Now Know: Simple Lessons Learned the Hard Way." The very hard way. Great to see you.

FERGUSON: Very hard.

ZAHN: Best of luck to you. She has a new television show coming out and rolling next fall. We would love to talk to you before then. Thanks for dropping by.

FERGUSON: Thanks, Paula.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com