Oprah Winfrey has made a multi-billion dollar empire out of engaging with extremes of human behaviour, whether talking to mass murderers or exploring sexual peccadilloes. But for a moment at the start of her interview with the Duchess of York she looked genuinely out of her depth. "I can go into hyperventilation and a panic attack right now," said Sarah Ferguson. "Right now?" Winfrey replied, sounding alarmed. "Yes, right now." "Well, try not to," Winfrey shot back, evidently thinking that if she didn't get a grip on this interview from the beginning she never would. In the end, there were no panic attacks or hyperventilations during the hour-long Oprah Winfrey show broadcast by ABC today. But a picture of the duchess emerged from the conversation in the hotel room in Los Angeles that will no doubt reinforce some of the negative images that have built up.
By her own admission, Ferguson is broke, desperate, self-loathing, self- abusing, stupid, idiotic, naïve and, frankly, rather kooky. Winfrey opened by playing Ferguson the footage secretly filmed by the News of the World of her accepting $500,000 in return for her securing its undercover reporter access to her former husband, Prince Andrew. She had never watched the whole film before, she said, other than seeing snippets in airport lounges. "I feel sorry for her, bless her. I feel really sorry," Ferguson said as she watched the video, her face in her hand. "She looks exhausted. Sad really." It became clear, with a little teasing out from Winfrey, that Ferguson was referring to herself. Why was she talking about herself in the third person, Winfrey wanted to know. Was it, she might have added, the "royal we"? No, it seemed to be rather the over-elaboration of a woman who has indulged in too much therapy. "I suffered from self-hatred and chronic abuse of myself from an early age. I'd tried to be perfect for 25 years or even longer, I tried to do everything right and little Sarah got lost along the way."
Little Sarah said she fell into the trap of the News of the World's entrapment supremo, the so-called Fake Sheikh, when she wanted to secure $40,000 on behalf "of a friend". The reporter had assumed the identity of a friend of a friend of hers who is living in India and going through a painful divorce. The duchess insisted that at their first meeting on 13 May she had been convinced the man was a reporter and vowed to have nothing to do with him. Yet, a week later, she met him a second time and, being somewhat "the worse for wear" from wine, had come up with the idea of adding on an extra $500,000 for herself to ease her financial straits. "I think I was so out of my mind, beyond the point of desperation. This had been building up," she said.
How much was she in debt, Winfrey demanded. Millions? "I think I have a huge uphill battle," came the politician's answer, adding that she had moved into a room in Prince Andrew's house because she could not afford rent and that she was now looking at bankruptcy. Why wasn't she given enough money in her divorce settlement to live the life to which she had been accustomed, Winfrey asked, evidently flabbergasted that a former royal was unable to live to the same royal standards that she, a TV billionaire, enjoys. "I chose friendship with the boss," Ferguson replied.
"I think I've been a huge over-trusting idiotic stupid woman," she concluded. Winfrey all but nodded.
Little Sarah said she fell into the trap of the News of the World's entrapment supremo, the so-called Fake Sheikh, when she wanted to secure $40,000 on behalf "of a friend". The reporter had assumed the identity of a friend of a friend of hers who is living in India and going through a painful divorce. The duchess insisted that at their first meeting on 13 May she had been convinced the man was a reporter and vowed to have nothing to do with him. Yet, a week later, she met him a second time and, being somewhat "the worse for wear" from wine, had come up with the idea of adding on an extra $500,000 for herself to ease her financial straits. "I think I was so out of my mind, beyond the point of desperation. This had been building up," she said.
How much was she in debt, Winfrey demanded. Millions? "I think I have a huge uphill battle," came the politician's answer, adding that she had moved into a room in Prince Andrew's house because she could not afford rent and that she was now looking at bankruptcy. Why wasn't she given enough money in her divorce settlement to live the life to which she had been accustomed, Winfrey asked, evidently flabbergasted that a former royal was unable to live to the same royal standards that she, a TV billionaire, enjoys. "I chose friendship with the boss," Ferguson replied.
"I think I've been a huge over-trusting idiotic stupid woman," she concluded. Winfrey all but nodded.
Ed Pilkington, the Guardian
