a foghorn for silent whispers

When Sarah Ferguson (aka Fergie), the Duchess of York, announced at the Book Expo America in New York that she was a 'foghorn for silent whispers' in her work as an author of children’s books and a patron of children’s charities, Rhoda wonders whether she is trying to soften her brazen image after the 'cash for access' scandal involving her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, or whether she is trying to tell us something about her own childhood and the experience of a step-mother when her mother ran off to Argentina and her father’s remarried.

“Like Fergie, my parents divorced but neither remarried or had other children so I have no personal experience of a stepmother or stepfather or half brothers and sisters,” confesses Rhoda, “but I know plenty of girls who had the same experience as Fergie and it has scarred them for life.”

“My parents divorced when I was 9, old enough to understand what was going on but not mature enough to understand the sex stuff,” explains Rhoda, “and I think it must have been very traumatic for Fergie – at the dangerous age of 13 – to cope with her mother leaving her and her older sister Jane with a womanizing father in order to move to Argentina to marry the polo player Hector Barrantes.”

“I don’t think Fergie had any sort of relationship with her stepfather Hector – even though his property in Argentina was bequeathed to her and Jane,” says Rhoda, “but she surely had to live with her father’s new wife and the three children they had together – and cope with his many mistresses – until she was old enough to leave home.”

“Fergie has never talked about her step-mother or her half brothers and sisters,” says Rhoda, “but when she talks about being a 'foghorn for silent whispers' in her work as an author of children’s books and a patron of children’s charities one cannot help but think that she is obliquely telling us something about her own childhood and the painful experience of being part of a stepfamily.”

“That neither she nor Andrew remarried and brought other children into the mix may be yet another manifestation of her wanting to protect Beatrice and Eugenie from a similarly painful stepfamily experience.”

See also:

Will Fergie and Andy Remarry?

Marriage or Emigration for Fergie?

Mother of the Year?

Fergie’s chutzpah survival

what's next for Fergie?

How free is Fergie?

Oprah tops Fergie’s retirement pot

Fergie Flouts Family

Fergie and the global gravy train

Greedy Fergie!

Fergie smokes, so what?

Homeless Fergie?

Fergie’s £15,000 pa was a lousy settlement

Fergie’s menopausal mania

star struck Fergie

cashing in on the family Fergie style!

Fergie’s broken homes

Is Fergie reliving her childhood?

a foghorn for silent whispers

Sarah Ferguson’s Libran Balance

Age Secrets of Prince Andrew

Age Secrets of Sarah Ferguson

Andrew and Sarah, Duke and Duchess of York