The Duchess of York on 'shining a light' on her darkness, the 'really big hole' left after Diana's death and why she'll never apologise for being the 'naughty' granny

EXCLUSIVE: The Duchess of York is in Sydney at the end of a hugely successful tour and has just hours before she flies back to the UK, via Samoa.If that sounds familiar, that's because the duchess – known affectionately as 'Fergie' – is following a similar route home to the last British royals that were in Australia: King Charles and Queen Camilla.Sarah Ferguson's time Down Under bears similarities to the King and Queen's recent visit, with a busy schedule of meet and greets and a focus on helping others, which has become her mission: "Look, listen, learn, show up and learn".READ MORE: Princess of Wales returns to public role after finishing cancer treatment"For anyone thinking, 'Oh, you sound alright Sarah', or Fergie or Ginger or Duchy or whatever you call me, it's because I also do the work," the Duchess of York tells 9honey, soon before a book signing, the last event on her week-long visit."And I do it with really studying the spiritual side of life and my own darkness."There can be a lot of darkness, and I'm shining light on my darkness."The Duchess of York is sitting inside a Sydney hotel on the final day of her visit, which began in Western Australia a little over a week ago.Watch the video aboveShe was originally scheduled to be here in October but postponed so as not to overshadow the King and Queen's tour.The duchess, along with being one of the most loved and relatable members of the royal family, is an accomplished author with more than 80 titles to her name spanning various genres including children's books, teenage literature, historical fiction, romance and even a cook book (though she famously does not cook herself).READ MORE: 'Overwhelming and isolating': Harry's letter to children suffering griefShe was brought out here by her Western Australia-based publisher, Serenity Press, to showcase the duchess' commitment to literature, wellness, and empowerment.One of the qualities that has endeared the 65-year-old to millions around the world is her honesty and vulnerability.On being confident againDespite her successes through writing – she is a Sunday Times and New York Times best-selling author – the duchess is still surprised by her achievements."It's only recently that I've really seen that actually I can do this," the duchess says."[My editor in New York] said, 'You know, you are a professional storyteller' and I went, 'What?'"So, whether it's self doubt that has been cut away with my cancer – could be, I think –because I just wanted to hug her."She gave me a title. It's not just author. It was a 'professional storyteller'. So I love it. I've embraced that."It's kind of brave, don't you think? To have the confidence to agree that you can do something."The duchess says she finds inspiration for her stories "just everywhere"."I literally love it. It's so fun. Have you ever sat in a restaurant and made up stories about people passing by?"I mean, it's really funny. It's really cheeky. I jump into so many different genres."I can bore myself with my own imagination. But every single book I write, every single moment of my day is a sense of adventure."One of the duchess' newest titles Flora & Fern: Wonder in the Woods (published by New Frontier) is a children's book, while Fabulous Food Art is a collaboration with Melbourne mother and TikTok sensation Laleh Mohmedi, of Jacob's Food Diaries fame.The cookbook will no doubt encourage young people into the kitchen to recreate some of the cute critters ('Princess Toast' and 'Sausage Dog sausage rolls' are two standouts) and some of the duchess' most beloved characters from previous books get a mention too, such as Budgie the Little Helicopter and Little Red.She points to a copy of The Enchanted Oak Tree, sitting on the coffee table between us.The tree's human-like face is the image of her late father, Major Ronald Ferguson, who passed away in 2003, with the duchess pointing to the character's "bushy eyebrows".The duchess and her 'girlies'Family, kindness and resilience are central themes in the duchess' writings and she is full of praise and admiration when asked about her two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie."They are my tripod and we are united through supporting each other. Also with my sister, who you've met [the duchess motions to her older sister Jane, sitting nearby] we are very close."The duchess will continue to refer to Jane here and there throughout our chat, the two women engaging in playful banter like only sisters do."It's that unconditional feeling that sisterhood has," the duchess says."My girls, they are very good sisters, but all sisters, especially bossy older sisters [the duchess once again points to Jane] ... it's pretty lovely to have bossy older sisters because you certainly know where you stand."I agree with her, being the bossy older sister in my family."Oh, you are? Fabulous," she says.The bond between the duchess and her daughters is unbreakable and it's a relationship that has played out in front of the cameras, such is the reality of life in the royal family.The three women often appear at events together, while the duchess regularly shares family photos boasting of her pride at her daughters' achievements. There are no feuds in this particular branch of the Windsor clan.In December last year, the duchess joined her daughters and ex-husband Prince Andrew for the Christmas church service at Sandringham, walking with the royal family – including the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales – to St Mary Magdalene's for the first time in 30 years.It's clear these family ties are strong.The duchess says she continues to learn from her "girlies" – Beatrice, 36, and Eugenie, 34 – every day, especially now they are both mothers.And the York family is growing.She is is soon to become a grandmother for the fourth time with Princess Beatrice expecting her second child with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.The baby will be born 11th in line to the British throne and is due anytime from March.The newborn will be a younger sibling for Sienna, three, and Christopher – known as Wolfie – Mozzi's eight-year-old son from his previous relationship.Princess Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank have two sons: August, three, and Ernest, one."They are very good mothers," the duchess says."They are very organised. They are exceptional how they keep their work ethics and how they get to work and keep their husbands and keep families. I'm very impressed."The duchess lacked a mother figure for a large part of her childhood after her own mum, Susan, left the family and moved to Argentina with polo player Hector Barrantes.She recently described the late Queen Elizabeth II as being "more my mother than my own mother".Speaking to 9honey the duchess says: "I keep looking at them [Beatrice and Eugenie] thinking, how on earth would Jane, my sister and I... I was 13 and she was 16 when my mother left."And in those days, she thought that was normal, our mother did. Nowadays, I mean, there's no way, no way I would leave my girlies."The 'naughty' grandmotherWhile the duchess is a constant presence in her daughters' lives, she knows when to take a step back."They're very good mothers, and I let them be good mothers. [But] I am a very stand-back grandmother."When they want to play with me, I'm there to play. When they want me to read to them, I'm reading, but I'm not going to be in their face."I let them come to me [for] fun. I like to be the fun GiGi."Granny she is not.In what would come as a surprise to no-one, the duchess admits she is a bad influence on her grandchildren. In a playful way, of course."I'm really annoying to my children, my girlies, because I make my grandchildren be naughty," she laughs."When they're trying to have a family photograph, and SiSi [Sienna] is aged three, and I'm trying to make her smile ... I lift my skirt up, behind the camera, and she lifts her skirt up."And so the whole family photograph is ruined because [the duchess pretends to lift up her skirt] she is copying GiGi."At Sienna's most recent birthday party, the duchess hired Sparkles, "a very small little white pony", who they dressed up as a unicorn much to the delight of all the children there."He had a unicorn put on in front of his face, and he had a very colourful tail and Sparkle the Unicorn was coming through the woods when all the children literally could not believe it."And so Sienna really was the Belle of that ball, because no-one else had Sparkle."The Duchess of York's face lights up when she speaks about her "girlies" and her grandchildren.'I miss Diana daily'This is a woman who is so full of love and warmth and is happy to share some of her most cherished memories.I ask about her friendship with the late Diana, Princess of Wales who, much like the duchess, was always welcomed with open arms by Australians.The two women were once thick as thieves when they were brought together by their marriages to then-Prince Charles and Prince Andrew."The thing about Diana was that she had the best sense of humour of any single person I know – that's quite a big thing, so it's a really big hole because she'd get my sense of humour," the duchess says."It's really, really hard to really make me cackle with laughter like she used to."And so, yes, I miss her daily, and I think in the '80s it was just her and I, wasn't it?"There isn't anybody else to know, really, what we know because there was no social media and it was just newspaper headlines."I was so proud of her, what she achieved, and she would be SO proud of her grandchildren."Oh, my goodness. Can you imagine? She would be just loving every moment."She was a great lady, and she still is a great lady."Cleaning up the 'sewer of the of social media'While there was no social media when Diana and Fergie were dominating the headlines, the duchess is a prolific user of the medium now and has close to 800k followers on Instagram and recently launched her own TikTok account.She describes herself as "a generational bridge" to empower young people whose voices might be struggling to be heard."The most important thing is to be cognitively aware of your words," the duchess says."You got to be mindful. You must understand the new language of living. You must understand about pronouns and allowing people to be their own personality."The duchess is committed to listening and learning from the next generation and in September, during New York Climate Week, became the Founding Ambassador for the Youth Impact Council.The not-for-profit aims to amplify the voices of youth activists making an impact in climate action, social justice and innovation and connecting them with established leaders."I really wanted to be the generational bridge to help them really get the voice and amplify their voices because not many people are doing that."And she is very clear about one major problem affecting young people that needs drastic reform."I want people to stop this bullying. I want trolling to stop and I'm very, very talkative about it, about the the sewer of the of social media when it can take you into bullying and it really upsets me."So that's why I want to do this work. And I found my purpose being the bridge because I learn from my extraordinary council of young people that teach me."You look, listen, learn, show up."'The longest drive that I have ever had'The duchess is so full of passion and enthusiasm for life, having faced her own mortality recently.In June last year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a single mastectomy. Months later, the duchess was told she had a malignant melanoma.Since those two life-changing diagnoses, the duchess has been using her experience to urge people not to put off getting screened, as she nearly did.It was her "bossy sister" Jane who insisted she not miss the routine appointment where the mass on her breast was later discovered.During her time in Perth and Sydney, the duchess made sure to learn about the "ground-breaking work from Australia" being done in cancer research.On Wednesday, she visited the Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Sydney's west where ProCan scientists are analysing tens of thousands of examples of all types of cancer worldwide to develop a library of information to advance scientific discovery and enhance clinical treatment.The aim is to have a more accurate diagnosis and treatment that is proven to work on that particular type of cancer.Speaking after touring the institute, and meeting families who have benefited from its research over the years, the duchess said any medical advancements were welcomed.She described being diagnosed last year and then going to meet the surgeon who would operate almost immediately."It was the longest drive that I have ever had because you are in abject fear of your own demise from the results," the duchess says. "We went in straight away for a quick mastectomy because we didn't want it to spread anymore."The duchess added: "People can say, 'Well don't you want to just be quiet and not talk so intimately and personally about a mastectomy or malignant melanoma?"The answer is, if it helps someone who's watching, then I will talk. I will shout and I will amplify."'Embraced with kindness and goodness'For someone who has gone through such personal upheaval, the duchess is remarkably upbeat, at peace with herself now with an overall positive mindset.She has recently provided the foreword to a book written by Anamika Neitlich, The Beautiful Language of the Heart, which chronicles the journey of Vaughn, a young man with nonspeaking autism. He emerges from years of isolation to discover a way of communicating with the world, without words.The duchess describes it as "an extraordinary story".She also credits Neitlich – an American holistic healer – for "lifting my belief in myself", having worked together for 32 years."It just shows you if you change the inner critic, you change the inner workings, you mirror out joy," the duchess says."And being in Australia, I certainly feel so embraced with kindness and goodness and lovely people and people accepting me."So, I wonder if I've accepted myself in order that my inner acceptance has caused an outer acceptance and I wonder if cancer helped me on that journey."And with that, the Duchess of York is off to meet her adoring fans in Sydney's Dymocks bookstore.https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCHBAektmdk/?utm_source=ig_embed&Once described by the press as a "breath of fresh air" when she married into the royal family, the duchess continues to redefine what it is to be part of the extended Firm.It's been decades since the duchess officially represented the royal family but it's no wonder she's been a fixture at recent family events including at Christmas and Easter: she is an asset to the monarchy in what has been a turbulent few years.An official royal tour to Australia this was not, but the Duchess of York was true to her mission of turning up, being seen and doing good.And that is something straight out of the King's playbook.FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. 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