She once had the Queen as her mother-in-law, but Sarah Ferguson remains a royal act.
The Duchess of York was the keynote speaker at the second annual Inspiring Women “The Experience”.
Bingemans in Kitchener was overflowing with amazing and fun women.
The Duchess really did make us laugh and cry. The famous redhead candidly talked about “slaying her dragons” over the years. Ferguson showed pictures of her girls, and talked of her great relationship with her ex, Prince Andrew.
She playfully pointed out that she married the “best-looking son” !
(How many of us remember waking up so very early on July 23, 1986, to catch the royal wedding?)
She also got to the ugly- her mother leaving, her struggles with being a royal, having weight issues, the marriage break-up and dealing with the British press.
Her message to the crowd: Never give up, be the “foghorn” and make a difference - clean your side of the street. She says it’s about who you are inside. The Duchess truly believes it is possible to change anything, and urges us to be like trees in a crowded jungle.. and “go for the light”.
And she is doing it.
She’s busy jetting around the world, supporting her children’s charities. It includes work in Afghanistan.
I had a chance to chat with the Duchess at a reception a night earlier, and she is in Toronto next, then off to New York, then on toTurkey.
The woman known as “Fergie” was approachable, walked into the lunch with no entourage, and was quick to hug and shake hands. A true royal act, the Duchess thanked organizers, the servers at the lunch, and a list of others before getting into her talk. She’s funny too. (Love the word “naughty” when it comes served with a british accent!)
Yesterday’s event was Inspiring. Congrats to Kathy Weiss and the gang for pulling off an even bigger event the second time around.
Wow.
And with over 600 women together for the day, how great was it, to take over the men’s washrooms? The three men in the crowd had to hike it waaaay down the hall.
Also getting much talk: The edible dessert centrepieces, and as one speaker put it ” dessert..like.. every fifteen minutes”!
Thanks to my radio sister, Tara, for her support on stage.
See you next year, Thursday September 10, 2009.
lisa