Fergie a hit with crowd
By Robyn Kriel
Staff Reporter

Daniel-Meyer Coliseum was lively Monday morning, not with the usual squeak of athletic shoes, but with the sounds of frantically clicking cameras, 3,500 screaming high school girls and Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson’s British accent.

“I’ve never stood in a room quite like this in my life,” Ferguson, 43, said, after being escorted onto the stage by SuperFrog. Ferguson was invited to speak by the Women’s Foundation of North Texas, a philanthropy, to promote welfare among women and children, through her personal story of health and wealth.

The duchess is the spokeswomen for Weight Watchers and the volunteer spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, as well as the author of more than a dozen books.

Ferguson began her story by saying that she was once a woman who hated herself. She said that after her mother left her at age 12, she became a compulsive eater. Then at 17 she started with the injections, weight-loss pills and dieting. She said that while she did lose weight, she became unhappy and obsessed.

Ferguson said that somehow she managed to hide her obsessive eating habits and low self-esteem. On the surface she looked perfectly happy and confident, she said.

“I was known as ‘good old Fergie’ or ‘Fun-loving Fergie’,” she said. “People did not realize what a giant complex I had about my appearance.”

Ferguson said that when she met her husband, Prince Andrew, she was suddenly thrust onto the world stage and her complexes worsened considerably.She said that through healthier eating and living she turned her life around.

“Today, standing on this stage, I am myself.” Ferguson said, followed by a burst of applause from the audience. “I had to accept that it was okay to make mistakes and that you cannot please everyone.”

Shirley Turner, founder and co-chairwoman of the Women’s Foundation, said that she could not believe the high energy in the room and the awesome response the women gave the duchess. Afterward, the duchess kept saying how much fun she had, Turner said.

“The audience would not stop clapping and screaming and she loved every moment of it,” she said. “I think she would have stayed there all day if she did not have other engagements.”

Freshman premajor Sarah Kendel said she found the duchess intriguing and could tell she had a great personality.

“I felt really inspired because she’s been through so much and still has a really positive attitude,” Kendel said.
“Do not let the darkness beat you,” were the duchess’s parting words, as she was whisked away by security.