Sarah Ferguson: Duchess of York recovering after breast cancer op

The Duchess of York is recuperating with family after having a single mastectomy following a diagnosis for breast cancer.

Sarah Ferguson, 63, who was formerly married to Prince Andrew, was given the news after a routine mammogram screening.

Her spokesman said: "She was advised she needed to undergo surgery which has taken place successfully."

Her doctors have told her that the prognosis is good, he added.

The spokesman said she was "receiving the best medical care and... is now recuperating with her family".

She underwent the procedure earlier this week at King Edward VII hospital, a private clinic in central London which previously treated the late Queen Elizabeth II and other senior royals.

The duchess is said to have returned home to Windsor this weekend, where she is now recovering.

She revealed details of the procedure in an interview for her new podcast, Tea Talk, recorded ahead of the operation.

Sarah discussed her recent diagnosis, urging others to take advantage of cancer screening programmes.

"I want every single person that is listening to this podcast to go and get checked," she said.

"I'm taking this as a real gift to me to change my life, to nurture myself," said the duchess, adding she would "stop trying to fix everyone else" and start "taking myself seriously".

"Now is my chance," she said. "This extraordinary position I'm in right now - it means there's no choice.

"I can't make another excuse. I have to go through this operation and I have to be well and strong. And therefore no choice is the best choice."

In a statement, her spokesman expressed the duchess's "immense gratitude to all the medical staff who have supported her in recent days".

She had been "symptom free" before the screening and the statement said she "believes her experience underlines the importance of regular screening".

The duchess and Prince Andrew were divorced in 1996 after 10 years of marriage, but remain close.

They continue to live together at Royal Lodge, a property owned by the Crown Estate at Windsor Great Park.

They have two daughters - Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 33 - and three grandchildren.

The duchess has had something of a revitalised career, reinventing herself as a successful author and now podcast host, and cheerfully riding out such disappointments as not being invited to the Coronation.

Her style has become relaxed and approachable, chatting to fans recently at the London Book Fair and posing for selfies.

The Tea Talks podcast, which has been running for several weeks, is an often self-deprecating look at life, with a recent episode talking about her friendship with Princess Diana, and the loneliness and sense of being ostracised that they both felt.

She said Diana had told her: "I know what it's like to be left in the corner of a room."

And the duchess said in the podcast: "I know that feeling too, when people don't wish to talk to you because 'Bad Fergie' sells papers. They've already judged you and you're left alone."

The majority of women whose breast cancer is detected early now beat the disease because of progress in treatments, analysis by the British Medical Journal found earlier this year.

Surgery cures most breast cancers, while chemotherapy, radiotherapy and endocrine therapy can reduce the long-term risk of dying in cases where some disease remains.

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