EFTA02035992.pdf

The attached article which was on the front page of the Style section = of today's NY Times.=A0 Fortunately, the reporter — whom I = know =A0but did not speak with about this story — ignored what = Sarah said in the UK and just treated her association with Jeffrey in = brief passing — and not by name. Mike =B7 = Times = Topics Sea= rch All NYTimes.com <= a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/pages/fashion/index.html">Fashion & = Style B7 Saving Sarah From Herself, Oprah Style = George Bums/Harpo Productions, Inc., via Associated = Press ODYSSEY= "Finding Sarah," a = six-part documentary about Sarah Ferguson's transformation, will be = shown on Oprah Winfrey's network. By • LAURA AI. [JOLSON Pub= Rata his 3. 2011 0 = CHIC= AGO Related= /o:p> -B7 - Times Topic:Sank Fergmea Enlarge This = Image EFTA_R1_00548813 EFTA02035992 • - Sally Ryas for Ma Son tea Tiset CLIMBING = OUT Sarah Ferguson says = self-hatred and poor judgement caused her to "go into the = gutter." IN = the past year or so, Sarah = Ferguson, the much-maligned Duchess of York, has been caught = trying to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew; has narrowly = escaped going bankrupt; and was shut out of the royal wedding of Prince = William and Catherine Middleton. Among other memorable low points, she = recalled one recent afternoon over lunch in the penthouse at the James = Hotel here, was a rain-soaked weekend near Edmonton, Alberta, when she = showed up to give a motivational speech at a Canadian resort. = R= 20;I got there, and it was a casino in the middle of nowhere, = right?" said Ms. Ferguson, as she picked at a plate of sliced = pastrami and a bowl of lettuce leaves. "I was working weekends. I = was working 24/7 to pay for my staff And I got to the tent and, because = of the pouring rain, the water had come into the tent, and only eight = people showed up. I took a photograph of the billboard that looked like = Buffalo Bill had come to town." Ms. = Ferguson scrolled though her BlacicBerry until she found it: her = airbrushed portrait pasted onto a piece of flimsy white paperboard. = 1 had gone from marrying the queen's son to now being on a = poster in a casino in the pouring rain in a tent in the middle of = nowhere with eight people in the audience," she said with a sigh = and a roll of her azure eyes. "I'd got down to bowling = alleys." Befo= re there was Bethenny Frankel, Kelly Bensimon or Camille Grammer, there was Sarah = Ferguson, the irrepressible royal housewife of Windsor. Few other = English princess brides have lived their lives so like a reality = television star: feuds with the in-laws; weight fluctuation calculated = in the tabloids; romantic misadventures captured on film — and, = after it all fell apart, a plucky extension of the personal brand with = books and a spokeswoman gig for Weight Watchers. = So = it seems only natural that when Ms. Ferguson's self-hatred and = poor judgment caused her to "go into the gutter," as she = described it, her rehabilitation would be played out on a small screen. = Who = better to oversee her transformation than Oprah Winfrey? It was she who = persuaded Ms. Ferguson last year to ditch an offer from "Dancing = With the Stars" and become the subject of a six-part documentary called "Finding = Sarah: From Royalty to the Real World," scheduled to be broadcast = on the Oprah Winfrey Network beginning June 12. Ms. = Winfrey is attracted to people who need to be made over or done up or = who are in the process of reinventing themselves. And Ms. = Ferguson's story in theory makes for compelling television. = American audiences are practiced at seeing fallen potentates make a = comeback (see Eliot Spitzer). And the British royalty, in particular, = remains popular: an estimated 23 million EFTA_R1_00548814 EFTA02035993 Americans stumbled out of bed = in the early hours of April 29 to watch the royal wedding live, with = millions more watching it later online. R= 20;With Catherine going up the aisle, you know what went through my = head?" Ms. Ferguson said, referring to Ms. Middleton's = wedding walk at Westminster Abbey, retracing the steps that Ms. Ferguson = took in 1986. "I feel like I've handed her the baton and = said: 'Well done. And you'll do it right.' I = didn't do it right, and now I am going to go get Sarah right." — HOUR= S before her interview at the James Hotel, Ms. Ferguson arrived at 8 = a.m. in the green room at Ms. Winfrey's Harpo Studios, where she = was taping her sixth appearance on "Oprah," = one of the host's treasured final shows. Forced to jettison a = staff of 12 last summer because she had no money to pay them, Ms. = Ferguson was trailed by Martin Huberty, her personal assistant whom she = has known since she was 16. With no makeup, her curly hair gathered in a = knot, she looked like a suburban soccer mom in a knee-length navy and = white pleated Ann Taylor skirt, her skin freckled and creased from too = much sun. She = plopped into a makeup chair where a hairstylist crowned her head with = orange and green curlers. "I lost 45 pounds on Weight = Watchers," the hairstylist whispered to Ms. Ferguson, who = congratulated her. A = little before 9 a.m., Ms. Ferguson, 51, slipped into a black Michael = Kors dress — the label had been snipped out — that hugged = her shapely figure. When she walked onstage, carrying a blue-and-red = flowered handkerchief that she later tucked under her left thigh (in = case she began to cry), the mostly female crowd cheered wildly. = And = she did not disappoint. Audience members nodded sympathetically as Ms. = Ferguson dabbed her tears while watching a clip from the new series in = which she describes the 1998 death of her mother by decapitation in a = car accident. During breaks in taping, they were equally engaged. Ms. = Ferguson demurred when Ms. Winfrey asked what kind of pajamas Queen = Elizabeth wore, instead effusing about the more than 20 royal attendants = available to her at Buckingham Palace before her divorce in 1996, = including six ladies-in-waiting. "Get out!" Ms. Winfrey = shouted, as the audience gasped. "No wonder you arc finding = Sarah!" Afte= r the show, Ms. Ferguson was exhilarated, but not without doubts about = the audience's reaction. "I think I was making up a huge = story that they were going to judge mc," she said at the James. = "Everyone had enjoyed the wedding so much. And it's been so = beautiful, the recent royal wedding, that they are going to look at me = and say, how can I be so silly?" Her = desire to be liked often overrides her self-protective impulse. So much = so that during one taping break, she gave this reporter a thumb's = up and mouthed the words, "Am I doing O.K.?" When asked = later about her tendency toward self-deprecatory apology, she seemed = puzzled. "Why do I apologize?" she wondered aloud. "I = think it's playing into my addiction of people pleasing and = approval and acceptance." She fell silent, then added, "And = do you think that it could also be that I am truly sorry to have broken = everybody's illusion about the fairy tale?" = The = finance guru Suze Orman, who spent two days with the duchess analyzing = her money woes as part of the documentary, had another theory about Ms. = Ferguson's constant need to make amends. "She has a desire = to be needed," she said in a phone interview. "When you make EFTA_R1_00548815 EFTA02035994 = mistakes, those that love you step up to the plate to take care of you. = You get rewarded for doing something wrong. You get rewarded with = others' attention. And any attention is better than no attention. = R= 20;The real problem," Ms. Orman added, " is she is trapped = in her heritage, and she can never get rid of that." = Inde= ed, Ms. Ferguson's pattern of self-criticism is so ingrained that = the notion that she could move past her mistakes — including = having her toes licked by a paramour while married to Prince Andrew or = accepting a = $22,500 loan from a friend who was convicted of soliciting a = prostitute — seemed to be a revelation. "You are = right!" Ms. Ferguson said. "You know what? That was then. = This is now. And this is me. And I'm O.K. now. But see how good = that is? You've given me a lesson." She called out to her = assistant. "Martin, will you make a note of that?" she said. = Ms. = Ferguson is charming and refreshingly candid, particularly so when = describing the problems that led her to Oprah. Ms. Winfrey's = favorite psychologist, Dr. Phil McGraw, who gave Ms. Ferguson therapy = sessions as part of the documentary, has a theory here: "She has = crossed a threshold where she has decided to say it the way it = is." But the duchess, he added, is painfully na=EFve: "The = ability for her to see danger and manipulation is not good." = So = it would seem. On = the morning of Friday, May 21, 2010, Ms. Ferguson said, an investor came = to visit her at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, which she shares with her = ex-husband and, at times, their two college-age daughters, Princesses = Eugenie and Beatrice. (She and her ex-husband are still close friends, = Ms. Ferguson said.) She and her visitor, she said, discussed a = =A3500,000 investment (about $800,000) in a line of products she wanted = to create for a proposed lifestyle brand. "I've always = wanted to be a British Martha Stewart," she said. = It = was her second business meeting that week. A few days earlier, she had = met with someone she thought was a businessman to discuss a similar = venture. During their conversation, which the man was secretly = videotaping, Ms. Ferguson said she could introduce him to Prince Andrew. = She left with $40,000 in a black briefcase. On Sunday, May 23, 2010, The = News of the World published an explosive = article by the man, who turned out to be a reporter there, = condemning Ms. Ferguson for trading access to Prince Andrew for cash. = She = said that this wasn't the case and that the footage was cut for = salacious effect. (Dr. Phil challenged her on this explanation in the = documentary.) "Honestly, I could never sell him out," she = said of Prince Andrew in the interview at the James Hotel, adding: = "That's why he's still with me. He knows it is = nonsense." Stil= I, reprisals were swift. The legitimate investor sent her an e-mail that = Sunday that she retrieved from her BlackBerry at the James and read = aloud: "Sadly, it looks like this morning you've hung = yourself and I will now be unable to help you. What a waste. What a = pity." The = lost opportunity stung. But perhaps what stung more was that she had = sullied the royal Windsor name once more. "I really missed not = being at the wedding," Ms. Ferguson said, EFTA_R1_00548816 EFTA02035995 wistfully. "I = missed being part ofit all." But = it may be something she is finally getting used to. When Ms. Ferguson = got up to leave, she handed over her business card. She had drawn a line = through the title "The Duchess of York" and scrawled in red = ink: "Just Sarah." a A recto of Mb ankle appeared la Malnine 0.3011. as page STI a HIM Sew fork edition »Oh the headline: Saving Sarah From Hermit. o °pram Style. =B7 = Sign In to E-Mail =B7 = Print =B7 Reprints ■ = Get 50% Off The New York Times & Free All = Digital Access. Sponsored Links EFTA_R1_00548817 EFTA02035996