Sarah Ferguson recently announced she would be visiting Australia for the Global Citizen NOW summit in Melbourne.
When announcing the news, Sarah spoke about how her three grandchildren inspired her for this major personal trip.
Sarah, Duchess of York has two grandsons and one granddaughter: August (three), Sienna (two) and Ernest (nine months).
Since becoming a grandmother, Sarah has revealed she’s become “acutely aware of [her] responsibility” to improve the state of the world for future generations.
The Global Citizen NOW event was co-chaired by Sarah, and at the summit she engaged with young leaders who are working to address the climate crisis, as well as end poverty and improve girls’ education.
The Duchess of York announced that she would be attending Global Citizen NOW via an Instagram post, where she uploaded a portrait of herself and wrote: “I am pleased to announce […] I am coming to Melbourne to participate in vital intergenerational conversations with young leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region, who are doing frontline, grassroots work to address the climate crisis, the hunger crisis, girls’ education and issues perpetuating cycles of extreme poverty.
“I look forward to listening to them, learning from them, and contributing whatever voice I have to speak up for the future of our planet. My parents always highlighted the need to champion the quiet voice of Mother Nature, and now even more so since becoming a grandmother I’ve become acutely aware of my responsibility, and that of my generation, to do everything we can to improve the state of the world we are leaving for our grandchildren.”
The event featured activists, world leaders, business leaders, and artists to bring awareness to these issues.
Special (in-person and virtual) attendees included other big names such as Hugh Jackman, Charlie Puth, Crowded House, Julia Gillard and Osher Günsberg, among others.
The news of Sarah’s Australia trip came merely weeks after she announced that she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, in January 2024 – less than a year after facing breast cancer.
Sarah, mother to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, said her diagnosis was a shock but she was “in the best hands and feeling positive”.
“After undergoing a mastectomy and reconstruction, I could only hope that I was in the clear, which is why a new diagnosis of skin cancer came as a shock,” she said. “I’m now in the best hands and feeling positive with the support of my family.”
Sarah, Duchess of York was in Australia earlier this month, with the Global Citizen NOW event held from March 4 – 6 in Melbourne.
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