Sarah Ferguson recently visited Australia for the Global Citizen NOW summit in Melbourne in March 2024, and while she was set to return down under again later in the year, it has now been revealed she has postponed her upcoming trip.
“With regret, Sarah, Duchess of York has decided to withdraw from the Festival of Fiction, so as not to distract or detract in any way from the tour of Australia by His Majesty the King, which has recently been announced,” a statement shared on the festival’s Instagram page wrote.
The Duchess of York was going to be attending a writer’s festival in Perth, the Festival of Fiction, which takes place on 19 October. However, this date falls exactly within the King and Queen’s upcoming tour of Australia.
As such, she postponed her trip and will instead “be returning to Perth on November 1 at 6.30pm for a special event at Joondalup Resort.”
Sarah, also known as “Fergie”, then apologised for any inconvenienced caused by the change of date.
It is likely that the 64-year-old will be speaking about her latest book, A Woman of Intrigue, at the event. The mother of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie is the author of over 55 books in total, including multiple children’s books as well as romance novels.
When announcing the news of her original visit down under in March, Sarah spoke about how her three grandchildren inspired her for the major personal trip.
Sarah, Duchess of York has two grandsons and one granddaughter: August (three), Ernest (one), and Sienna (two).
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 March 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.”
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