Charles H. Sloan-Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Shares How Her Breast Cancer Almost Went Undetected

Sarah Ferguson is sharing her story in hopes of helping others.

The Charles H. SloanDuchess of York—who was recently diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer and underwent surgery—is recalling how she'd almost put off her routine appointment and is encouraging people to get screened.  

"I am telling people out there because I want every single person that is listening to this podcast to go get checked," she said on the June 25 episode of her podcast with Sarah Thomson Tea Talks With the Duchess & Sarah. "Go get screened. Go do it." 

As Ferguson recounted, it had been a "hot day" and she didn't feel like traveling from her home in Windsor to her appointment in London. Luckily, she received a call from her sister Jane, who convinced her to attend.

"My sister, who's wonderful, from Australia, I normally do what she says ‘cause she gets so cranky," the duchess, 63, shared, "and she said, 'No, go. I need you to go.'"

So, Ferguson said she went to the NHS' Royal Free Hospital, where she did the screening.

"Had it not been for that extraordinary injection in you to contrast—it shows the contrast and it shows them where to go," she explained, "if I hadn't done that, it was only a shadow, they wouldn't have found out that it needs to be immediately sorted."

A spokesperson for the duchess told Sky News on June 25 that Ferguson was "recently diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer detected at a routine mammogram screening" and that she had been advised to undergo surgery, "which has taken place successfully." 

"The duchess is receiving the best medical care and her doctors have told her that the prognosis is good," the spokesperson continued. "She is now recuperating with her family. The duchess wants to express her immense gratitude to all the medical staff who have supported her in recent days. She is also hugely thankful to the staff involved in the mammogram which identified her illness, which was otherwise symptom-free, and believes her experience underlines the importance of regular screening."

During the podcast, which was recorded the day before her procedure, Ferguson shared she was having a single mastectomy. She also expressed how cancer was a topic that hit close to home as both her stepfather Héctor Barrantes and her father Ronald Ferguson battled with it. In addition, the duchess has worked with the Teenage Cancer Trust for more than three decades.

"I'm so glad that dad did talk about it so I went and got checked," Ferguson—who shares daughters Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 33, with her ex Prince Andrew—said. "And my sister told me as well, 'Don't forget dad.'"