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Sarah, also known as Fergie by family and friends, has become a daily presence in the life of many royal fans. The Duchess of York launched a new Youtube channel in April to keep children entertained during the coronavirus lockdown. 

The channel ’Storytime with Fergie & Friends’ includes videos, which are uploaded daily, of the Duchess reading children books and creating novelty foods.

Among the guests she has virtually hosted over the past few weeks, Fergie can count both her daughters.

This project has rapidly gained enough traction that it gave Fergie a “cult following” very few royals can enjoy, a friend of the Duchess said.

They told the Daily Telegraph: “The thing about Sarah is there is no vanity to her. 

“What you see is what you get. I remember when I first met her she was in a pair of jeans, an old t-shirt and flip flops.

“Some people may look at the videos and ask: ‘Who the hell advised her to do that?’ but you can’t stop someone from being themselves.

“And to be fair to the Duchess, she’s gained a cult following because she’s completely authentic on there.

“Some people call her eccentric, I say she’s an individual.

“She is this weirdly creative sort of person and so what you get is this form of wacky storytelling.”

Royal commentator Camilla Tominey analysed Fergie’s online presence and the launch of her new foundation, the Sarah’s Trust, which also happened at the height of the pandemic.

Among the difficulties faced by Fergie over the past few months, Ms Tominey named her former husband Prince Andrew being dragged into the Epstein scandal and his car crash interview with Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis.

Rather than taking the lockdown as a chance to lay low, the commentator said, the Duchess of York decided to start a series of new projects which shoot her back on the centre stage.

Comparing Fergie to a phoenix rising from the ashes, Ms Tominey wrote in the Telegraph: “Like a sort of wonky Phoenix, rising from the flames of Andrew’s car crash Newsnight interview, Fergie appears to have turned a crisis into an opportunity by using the lockdown to reinvent herself.

“Just before the outbreak, she set up her new charity Sarah’s Trust to channel her philanthropic endeavours and when COVID-19 struck, she immediately set to work sourcing luxury goods to send to hospitals, care providers and hospices at the forefront of the response.”  

Over the past few months, the Sarah’s Trust has led a series of donations from small businesses and more known firms to NHS workers, hospitals and carers.

Its long-term goal is to link charities and philanthropes to individuals and communities most in need of help, according to its official website.

This prompt response to the pandemic crisis and the heartbreaking struggles faced by NHS staff may be explained with Fergie’s view on the lockdown, according to one of her associates.

They said: “She’s from that sort of upper-class family who always ‘does their bit’. 

“She’s had quite a war-like view of lockdown, you know – you’ve got to play your part.

“That’s how she’s been brought up. Had she been in the last war, she probably would have been out there driving trucks.”

Fergie joined the Royal Family in 1986 after marrying Prince Andrew.

However, after the notorious toe-sucking scandal which saw Fergie starring in intimate pictures with a Texan tycoon, the couple separated in 1992 and divorced four years later.

With the split, Fergie lost her HRH style and was shunned from the Royal Family for years.

However, the Duchess appears to have steadily regained the trust of the Queen, who has in the past invited her to spend time at Balmoral Castle or at Royal Ascot.     

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