Sarah Ferguson films return from "emotional bankruptcy" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A year after hitting rock bottom in a royal favors scandal, the disgraced former daughter-in-law of Britain's Queen Elizabeth says she is now debt-free and positive about the future.

But it was a grueling struggle back to emotional and financial health for Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, judging by a candid six-part documentary making its debut on U.S. television on Sunday.

"Finding Sarah", on Oprah Winfrey's cable channel OWN, follows the ex-wife of Prince Andrew in a search for her own self-esteem as she seeks to rebuild her life following repeated acts of what she calls "self-sabotage."

"Dear diary," Ferguson begins. "What have I done with my life? How did I get it so wrong?...After 25 years in public life, I have lost who I am and it torments me."

Ferguson, 51, embarked on the documentary after being caught in a British tabloid newspaper sting in May 2010 in which she offered to sell access to Prince Andrew for $40,000.

It was the ultimate fall from grace for the exuberant, flame-haired duchess. Hailed as a breath of fresh air when she married the Queen's second son in 1986, she was later dubbed the "Duchess of Pork" by British tabloids.

The answers to her latest quest come just as harshly in "Finding Sarah." American TV advice guru Dr. Phil McGraw tells a tearful Ferguson that she is "emotionally bankrupt," and diagnoses her as being addicted to the approval of others.

Financial self-help expert Suze Orman tells her she is "broken inside," and urges her to become financially independent from Prince Andrew. The couple divorced in 1996 but Andrew later provided Ferguson with a free home in England.

Ferguson also visits a horse whisperer, a shaman in the Arizona desert, U.S. life coach Martha Beck, and embarks on a

26-mile trek through Canada's Arctic region in a test of her physical and mental stamina.

"To have the ability to go and see Dr. Phil or Suze Orman or Martha Beck...was an extraordinary honor for me," Ferguson told Reuters in an interview this week.

"By filming it, I hope that people watching will maybe relate to the feelings that I have felt, and see how Dr. Phil and Suze Orman and others give you the tools to be able to change your life," she added.

EMBRACED BY OPRAH WINFREY

Daughters Princess Beatrice, 22, and Eugenie, 21, also appear briefly in the series, saying they hope viewers will see Ferguson's qualities as a loving mother.

"They are old enough to make their own decisions," Ferguson said of the decision to include them.

But the person who helped her the most in the past year was talk show host Winfrey herself.

"She is definitely the most incredible, iconic, fabulous lady...She has really opened my eyes and embraced me, and it has been extraordinary the way she and the OWN network have supported me," Ferguson said.

Ferguson says in the documentary that she was in desperate financial straits even before the May 2010 newspaper sting. Afterward, she lost most of her celebrity endorsements and business deals.

But she told Reuters she has eight new children's books coming out in the next year and continues to work on her charities. She has also written a memoir, "Finding Sarah," to be published at the end of June.

"My financial situation is under control now, and is being handled well, and we are looking forward to a very good future. And I'm debt free," she said.

Ferguson seems to have accepted that she will likely remain outside the bosom of the royal family -- she was not invited to the April wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

And she is resigned to the possibility of more barbs from the British media, saying "They have written lots of things in 22 years, and they will continue to write whatever they wish."

But she does appear to have found some inner peace.

"I think I am a work in progress. I think I have learned some very good tools, and I am very excited and positive and I look forward to practicing what they have taught me.

"I will continue to write my children's books and do my charity work and be a first rate mother to my beautiful children, and a great best friend to my ex-husband," she said.

(Editing by Dean Goodman)

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Sarah Ferguson on 'Oprah' Tells All on Royal Wedding Snub (ContributorNetwork)

The last Royal couple to marry in Westminster Abbey was Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew in 1986. It was a bittersweet moment for the duchess to watch the recent wedding elsewhere, instead of at the Abbey with her own two daughters. Ferguson appeared on "Oprah" Wednesday, May 11. She talked about her being snubbed from the recent Royal Wedding that took place on April 29. We hear her briefly talk about her daughter's unusual hat she wore at the wedding that looked like deer antlers. Sarah was the only guest during the hour show. Oprah Winfrey mostly talked about Sarah's new show on the OWN network.

The Truth Behind the Royal Wedding Snub

It opened with seeing clips from Ferguson's appearance on Oprah in May 2010. This was after the undercover sting scandal where she promised a journalist $724,000 by offering access to Prince Andrew. Before the interview began Sarah wanted to clarify her daughter Beatrice was going to sell her world famous antler hat on eBay where the proceeds would go to UNICEF and other charities. In her own words Ferguson stated she was not invited to the wedding.

She went to a remote area in Thailand where there was no television or radio for her to listen to the wedding. Instead, she called someone in London who put the phone up to the TV to hear what was going on. She mainly did this to learn what her daughters and Prince Andrew were doing. One thing Sarah made clear was that she ostracized herself from the Royal Wedding. The responsibility was hers alone. It made her feel a little bit better that Diana, Prince William's mother, was not there either. They had been close friends since age 14.

Finding Sarah Docu-Series on OWN June 12, 2011

Most of the interview was in promoting the six episode series of the documentary "Finding Sarah" that will premiere on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). There were a number of clips where she has therapy sessions with Dr. Phil that is quite profound. Sarah meets up with financial wizard Suze Orman dealing with her never-ending financial bankruptcy issues. Several clips show her in tears when the British press attacked her on weight gain during her marriage. There's an ironic moment she is riding in a car then tells the driver that's where I use to live, meaning Buckingham Palace.

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Sarah Ferguson blames self for royal wedding snub (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Disgraced duchess Sarah Ferguson said she spent the day of Prince William's wedding last month berating herself for the past mistakes that left her without an invitation.

Ferguson, the ex-wife of William's uncle, Prince Andrew, told Oprah Winfrey in a U.S. television interview to be broadcast on Wednesday that she did not blame the British royal family for excluding her from the lavish nuptials in London on April 29.

"I think what I felt was that I went through the phase of feeling so totally worthless and that (it) was quite right they didn't invite me. Why would they -- why would they invite me?", Ferguson told Winfrey.

"I felt that I ostracized myself by my behavior, by the past, by living with all the regrets of my mistakes, that I sort of wore a hair shirt and beat myself up most of the day thinking and regretting why did I make such a mistake? Why have I made so many mistakes? So I did spend a good three hours on that," she added, according to advance excerpts.

Ferguson, who still holds the title Duchess of York but lost her status as a princess, was caught in a video-taped sting last year in which she appeared to ask for and accept $40,000 in cash in exchange for access to Prince Andrew.

The 2010 episode followed embarrassing photos in 1992 that showed her topless and having her toes sucked by a Texan businessman.

Ferguson, 51, said she went to Thailand once she knew she would not be invited to Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton. Her daughters with Prince Andrew -- Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie -- attended the ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey.

The historic church was also the venue for Ferguson's wedding to Prince Andrew in 1986. The couple divorced in 1996.

"It was so difficult. Because I wanted to be there with my girls, and to be getting them dressed and to go as a family. And also it was so hard because the last (royal) bride up that aisle was me," she told Winfrey.

But Ferguson said William's mother, the late Princess Diana, would be proud.

"They did a great job. And I really love the feeling that sort of Diana and I both weren't there. But I'm here to say how proud she would have been and Kate looked utterly beautiful".

Ferguson has made a reality TV series called "Finding Sarah" that will get its debut on June 12 on Winfrey's new cable TV channel OWN.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)

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