Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson is tired of digital media pitting Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle against each other.
According to ET , Ferguson penned an essay to Hello! magazine addressing social media abuse. She claimed the online bullying from the media is eerily similar to when publications pinned she and her former sister-in-law Princess Diana against each other before Diana’s death in 1997. Diana was married to Prince Charles at the same time that Ferguson was married to his brother, Prince Andrew. She said the media portrayed the two as rivals and negatively impacted their real-life relationship.
“Women, in particular, are constantly pitted against and compared with each other in a way that reminds me of how people tried to portray Diana and me all the time as rivals, which is something neither of us ever really felt,” she wrote for the magazine.
She continues the article by mentioning how history is repeating itself with Middleton and Markle. Since Markle married Prince Harry in May 2018, rumors have circulated that Markle and Middleton are feuding. The rumors were exacerbated last week when it was reported by the Sun that Markle and Prince Harry have decided to move into the Frogmore estate in Windsor, the same place where their wedding took place. While the decision to move was allegedly shocking for the royal family, there doesn’t seem to be any drama between the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cambridge, as they have been photographed together at multiple events.
Ferguson has always been transparent regarding her relationship with Princess Diana. She has always maintained that the two shared a friendship and close bond but, like any relationship, there were complications. She described Diana as having a “quick wit” and also said no one made her laugh quite like Diana.
The #HelloToKindness Campaign began after Hello! noticed hateful racial and sexist comments aimed at both Markle and Middleton following rumors of their rivalry. The campaign currently has blog posts and interviews from Lydia Bright and Storm Keating sharing their experiences with social media bullying.
The Duchess of York calls for kindness after she suffers online trolling following emotional open letter: https://t.co/2VNnOMKfiZ pic.twitter.com/YAP6SPHXr1
— HELLO! (@hellomag) February 12, 2019
Ferguson, Duchess of York, told Good Morning Britain recently that not only was she fond of the late Princess of Wales, she knows she would be happy with both Markle and Middleton if she were alive today.
“She’d really just be so proud,” she said at the time. “Even before they got married, Diana would have been literally going, ‘I can’t believe these boys have done so well.’ They are such a credit to her.”