Sarah Ferguson, Princess Diana. Getty Images (2)
Sarah Ferguson is remembering her “dear friend” Princess Diana on what would have been the late royal’s 63rd birthday.
“You were a pillar of light and love. And what a legacy you have left behind,” Ferguson, 64, shared via Instagram on Monday, July 1. “I will forever remember our laughter and the kindred, kind spirit I found in you. I am sure you are watching over us always. Rest in peace my friend.”
Ferguson wrote the sweet message alongside a photo of herself and Diana standing on the Buckingham Palace balcony. The throwback photo was snapped at the Battle of Britain Anniversary Parade in September 1990, years before Diana’s death.
The Princess of Wales died in a car crash at age 36 in 1997, nearly a year after she and the now King Charles III finalized their divorce.
While Ferguson and Diana became sisters-in-law when they married Prince Andrew and Charles, respectively, they were actually friends as teenagers long before becoming family.
“We were best friends from when she was 14 and I was 15,” Ferguson told People in 2021. “She taught me so much of public life. She was so brave. We used to have the most incredible time together.”
Diana and Charles got married in 1981. Five years later, Ferguson officially became Diana’s sister-in-law when she and Andrew, now 64, tied the knot. Despite the drama in their respective marriages — Charles admitted in 1994 that he had cheated on Diana with now-wife Queen Camilla — nothing could break the bond between the two women. (Both Diana and Ferguson finalized their divorces from Charles and Andrew in 1996.)
“We promised each other we would always be together — there was never any daylight between us,” Ferguson told People, addressing rumors they had a falling out prior to Diana’s death. “But everybody wanted that, because we were so strong together. People want to break something so strong.”
Because of their close bond and familial ties, Ferguson and Diana’s children grew up together as well. (Ferguson shares Princess Beatrice and Eugenie with Andrew while Diana welcomed Prince William and Prince Harry with Charles, now 75.)
“She would be very proud of her sons and their wives. And she would be just like me, obsessed with her grandchildren. Because that’s what she loved,” Ferguson told People of Diana, referring to Princess Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, who married William and Harry, respectively. “She adored the boys. This would be her haven. Her heaven.”