Wedding bells will soon ring inSarah Ferguson’s family!
The Duchess of York, 64, shared a warm message after her niece Heidi Luedecke got engaged. Heidi, 27, is the daughter of Jane Ferguson, the Duchess of York’s elder sister, and is set to wed Ben Collinson, an art consultant.
“She is my golden niece whom I love so much. I’m devoted to lovely Ben and Heidi,” the Duchess, who is popularly known as Fergie, told Richard Eden of theDaily Mailin a piece published on Friday.
The mother of the bride-to-be, Jane, also spoke to the Daily Mail. “So super-happy for them both,” she said, and joked, “Welcome to the madhouse, Ben!”
According to the outlet, Heidi works for the Tate Gallery in London — perhaps pulling her into the same circles as her cousin,Princess Eugenie! The younger daughter of Fergie andPrince Andrewhas a college degree in the history of art (likeKate Middleton) and has worked at the modern art gallery Hauser & Wirth in London since 2015.
It’s a little-known fact that the Duchess of York also worked at an art gallery in London before her royal wedding to Prince Andrew in 1986. And in 2003, Heidi and Jane tagged along with Fergie to attend a Weight Watchers event in Sydney, Australia, during the period the Duchess served as a spokesperson for the company.
Sarah Ferguson arrives with her sister Jane and niece Heidi for a a Weight Watchers Super Meeting at Fox Studios on March 18, 2003 in Sydney, Australia.Peter Carrette Archive/Getty
Peter Carrette Archive/Getty
Jane also celebrated the happy news on herInstagrampage, posting a selfie of Ben and Heidi where the bride-to-be flashed her diamond oval engagement ring.
“My little bunny is engaged to a big bunny called Ben! So super happy for them both, welcome to the mad fun house, Ben we are lucky to have you!” she captioned the snap.
“Sarah, you were one of these women that nearly didn’t go for the screening appointment. It was just one of those things that you thought, ‘I’ll put it off,’ and it was a conversation with your sister that made you go?” co-host Christine Lampard asked,referring to the storyFergie previously shared on her podcast.
“It was after a bank holiday and it was a Tuesday morning. And I thought ‘No, it’s a hot day,' and ‘Nah, no, I don’t need to go, I’m sure it’ll all be fine,” the Duchess recalled. “I had no symptoms. I was completely fine.”
Thanking her “bossy” older sister for insisting she make the trip, the co-host ofTea Talks with the Duchess and Sarahsaid the cancer was caught “so early, just in time.”
“That’s why I really want to shout about this. Don’t skip your screening appointment because I wouldn’t be sitting here if I hadn’t have gone,” Fergie urged, as the audience applauded.
In late June, a representative for the Duchess of Yorktold PEOPLEshe was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer at a prescheduled mammogram and underwent surgery. Fergiekept fans updatedthrough the summer about her recovery andexclusively tells PEOPLEhow she’s feeling now.
“I am so very grateful to report I am feeling very well!” the Duchess of York tells PEOPLE. “I am hugely thankful to the brilliant doctors and nurses who took wonderful care of me as well as the staff involved in the mammogram that identified my illness, which was otherwise symptom-free.”
“I am looking forward to working with the V Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee in selecting the recipient of the grant and continuing great work together. Just last week we raised over $500,000 for cancer research at their annual event in Napa,” she tells PEOPLE.
It hits close to home for Fergie, who had a successful single mastectomy over the summer following the diagnosis. OnLoose Women, she referred to an “extraordinary dye” that can detect shadows while voicing her gratitude to the Royal Free Hospital and the National Health Service.
“It wasn’t a lump, I had a shadow, it was like a splat. Eighteen months before it wasn’t there. So, it had come on from the last mammogram to this mammogram,” she said on the show.
“The drive from the Royal Free Hospital, I’ll never forget because of course your mind goes into, ‘Oh my goodness, I’ve got to have a mastectomy,’ and you look it up and it’s all terrifying and ‘This is what’s going to happen’ and then, ‘I’m not going to see my grandchildren grow up.’ That’s what goes through your head,” she continued. “It’s that feeling of demise… your mind goes.”
Fergie also referred to her family when speaking to PEOPLE about how her loved ones rallied around her and have supported her since the diagnosis.
Princess Beatrice, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and Princess Eugenie at a London event in 2017.David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
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“My two wonderful daughters are my wholehearted cheerleaders, my devoted champions and my soulmates, and they have been as supportive as can be, as they always are,” she told PEOPLE, referring toPrincess Beatriceand Princess Eugenie.
The author added that she’s feeling the love from her grandchildren. The Duchess of York and her ex-husbandPrince Andreware grandparents to Eugenie andJack Brooksbank’s sons — August, 2, and Ernest, 5 months — and Beatrice andEdoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s 2-year-old daughter Sienna plus Edo’s young son Christopher Woolf, whom he shares with his ex-girlfriend Dara Huang.
“My grandchildren have also been spectacular healers. Joy and laughter can be powerful tools when it comes to healing,” the Duchess tells PEOPLE.
source: people.com
