Sarah Ferguson shares Queen Elizabeth's life-changing advice during her cancer battle

Following her dual cancer diagnoses last year, Sarah Ferguson is continuing on her path to recovery and reflecting on a poignant piece of advice imparted by her late mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth. Last June the Royal family was rocked by Fergie's shocking breast cancer diagnosis which led to a mastectomy to eliminate the disease.

However, during a breast reconstruction operation two months later, doctors discovered and identified a suspicious skin lesion as malignant melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Despite the sombre prognosis, successful removal of the cancer in both cases has given the Duchess cause for optimism about her future health, even though doctors have cautioned against declaring herself "cancer-free".

In conversation with Hello! Sarah openly discussed her ongoing preventive care, saying: "I have to be checked regularly, and I have to put cream on my face to get out past sun damage, which means big blisters on my face, chest and hands for three weeks. But I'm not doing immunotherapy, taking any drugs or doing chemotherapy, for which I'm very grateful.", reports the Mirror.

The Duchess also highlighted how her life view has transformed since her cancer diagnosis, stating: "It gave me a swift kick in the butt and told me, 'Right, are you going to start living now, at 64, or are you going to keep on not quite living? ' You don't have to be what everyone wants you to be: just be yourself."

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Sarah then reminisced about a profound wisdom imparted to her by the Queen before she passed away, as she stated: "One of the only people who saw me properly was the Queen and before she died, she said: 'Sarah, being yourself is enough."

Even though the passing away of the Queen in September 2022 was sorrowful, Sarah has been amply supported by family, particularly Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, her daughters. A confidant recently told PEOPLE that she had a strong support network, stating that her "family is rallying 'round" adding, "They've been terrific since the summer."

Apart from fighting her own battle against cancer, Sarah offered support to King Charles and the Princess of Wales who were also diagnosed with the same disease this year. During this year's gala of amfAR in Cannes, Fergie confessed: ""I think family unity is key...I think the key to life is that we all support each other."

Additionally, she spoke on "forgiveness", which much of the public reckoned was an indirect comment on the continuing strife between the Royal family and Prince Harry due to the release of his contentious memoir 'Spare' last year.