Sarah Ferguson opens up on her 'dream' life as a royal

Sarah Ferguson was welcomed into the royal family when she married her ex-husband Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in 1986. 

Upon marrying Andrew the 63-year-old took on the title of the Duchess of York.

While she is not recognised as a princess, like Kate Middleton - who acquired the new title Princess of Wales following Queen Elizabeth II's death - and took on the duchess title, she felt she was fulfilling her childhood dreams. 

Speaking to The Telegraph Sarah - who is also known as Fergie - said: "Remember that the dream of every little girl is to be a princess, and I was a princess. And I loved every minute of it."

Sarah has two children with her former partner, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, and has since become a grandmother; Eugenie has son August and is pregnant with her second child, while Beatrice has daughter sienna. 

Sarah and Andrew's relationship came to an end when they split in 1996, hence why she famously described her life as "not a fairy tale" in her 1996 interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

Decades on from the tell-all conversation and Sarah has reflected on the conversation once again. 

While her marriage may not have been picture perfect, she loved forging a close relationship with her in laws.

She sad: "The thing is, I had the great honour of being the Queen’s daughter-in-law, and therefore I couldn’t not see every single second as a great learning curve.

“Listen, if every little girl’s dream is to be a princess, then your job is to uphold that dream. So I don’t ever want to let it down."

Sarah is not considered a working royal any more, however, that does not stop her from wanting to honour the late Queen Elizabeth II, who tragically passed away in September last year. 

She continued: "It’s unbelievably important to uphold Her Majesty’s legacy. And although I’m not a member of the royal family any more, my values are what I believe is right – and that’s what they uphold."

One example the Queen set, which Sarah upholds and passed on to her brood, is not to be a "grumpy princess" and smile. 

She said: "Even when you’re just walking out of your own front door, always smile. Uphold all that. No one wants to see a grumpy princess.”

In a previous interview, Sarah fondly reminisced over the Queen. 

She gushed: "She had the most incredible faith of any single person I’ve ever met.

"She just knew what to do. She knew how to make people feel good. She never took it onboard as about her. It’s about the monarchy, about making someone feel good. She was my total idol."