The Cruel Nickname That Sarah Ferguson Once Received

Sarah Ferguson was one of the characters that added more fire to the turbulent years the British royal family trudged through in the 1990s. In 1992, Ferguson, also commonly known as Fergie, and Queen Elizabeth II's second son, Prince Andrew, separated after nearly six years of marriage, per BBC. That was also the year Princess Anne, the queen's only daughter, divorced her first husband, Mark Phillips, and, of course, when Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. "1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an 'Annus Horribilis,'" Queen Elizabeth said in a speech that November, according to the Royal Family website.

Just a few months later, Ferguson saw herself in the heart of a massive scandal when the Daily Mirror published head-turning photos of the Duchess of York with American businessman, John Bryan, vacationing in France. To make matters worse, Ferguson had taken Princess Eugenie, then 2, who sat nearby as Bryan kissed her mother both on the lips and, infamously, on the toes. The "redhead" was indeed "in trouble," as Diana reportedly told writer Richard Kay the night before the pictures were published, Kay wrote in the Daily Mail.

The tabloid press, which already ridiculed her before the scandal, escalated their treatment of Ferguson and used a myriad derogatory terms to refer to her as. Keep reading to learn which nickname hurt her the most.

Sarah Ferguson was dubbed 'The Duchess of Pork'

Sarah Ferguson's weight oscillated a lot during and after her marriage to Prince Andrew, and the media wouldn't leave her alone for it. In fact, the tabloids referred to her as the "Duchess of Pork," even when she was pregnant with Princess Beatrice, per People. The report detailed that Ferguson suffered from high blood pressure and water retention during pregnancy, which was partly responsible for her 30-pound weight gain. 

But the reality was that Ferguson was also dealing with binge eating — an eating disorder, the University of Rochester's Medical Center explained. During difficult times in her life, Ferguson turned to food for comfort. "Food had become my addiction and every time things got difficult, I ate to compensate," she told Hello! magazine in January. When the press called her "Duchess of Pork," she ate even more, she revealed. "When you comfort eat you put on weight, and then beat yourself up for comfort eating. It is such a vicious circle," she told the Daily Mail in 2018. 

In a 2002 interview with The Guardian, Ferguson explained she began to overeat when she was 12, around the time her mother left the family for Argentinian polo player Hector Barrantes. Ferguson blamed herself and so she turned to food. "She was my spirit. My whole soul and she went. I believed it was my fault — of course I did. She hardly contacted me at all and that's when food became my only friend," she said.

Sarah Ferguson has since learned to control her overeating

The way the media and the public treated Sarah Ferguson and her looks was "soul destroying" to her, as she said on a podcast with Emma Forbes (via Express). It was even more hurtful to be constantly compared to her sister-in-law, Princess Diana, who is said to have suffered from bulimia. In her quest to be "beautiful and thin" like Diana, she hoped to develop bulimia, according to Express. "I never could get bulimia because I just didn't have that mental state to go that far, but I always wished I could. ... To wish you could have a mental illness to that level is a very serious place to get to," she said.

In 1997, Ferguson joined Weight Watchers and quickly became a spokesperson for it, a position she retained for 11 years, as CNN Business reported. Throughout the years, Ferguson tried many different types of diets to keep her food consumption and weight under control. Most recently, she became a spokesperson for Gianluca Mech's ketogenic diet, signing a deal earning her upwards of $1 million a year, per The Mercury News

Ferguson told Hello! her new weight-loss program was going well in January. "I don't think there's a one-diet-fits-all approach and every one of us should eat what suits us at different stages of our life," she said. "I have chosen to follow this diet for the last 18 months and I know, along with exercise and sleep, my weight and health have improved dramatically." 

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).