A Royal and her Royalties

Ive been 25 years in public life, she said,and they have completely brutalised me. Now,at 50,she is once again starting afresh.

She talks about a new movie,The Young Victoria,that she was instrumental in producing. It tells the story of Queen Victorias ascent to the throne in 1837,and of her marriage to Prince Albert. Emily Blunt,best known for The Devil Wears Prada,plays the title role.

The movie is the latest manifestation of Fergusons talent for converting her royal statusacquired after she married Prince Andrew in 1986into professional dividends,and its a prism into how she sees her own storied,fraught life.

Although she hailed from social circles deemed appropriate for Andrew,there was tittering about a party-girl past. There was scrutiny of how often she was seen in public without him and of her insufficiently demure ways. As she endured it,she says,she often thought of Victoria: How on earth did she manage at 17 to take on what I find very difficult to take on,which is the system?

Ferguson said she also relates to the character of Albert. He was German,a scientist,frowned upon, she said. In the film he says,Thank you for reminding me Im a guest in my own house? That bit in particular. You are always a guest.

Whats more,the Victoria-Albert relationship has long riveted her,she says,because the couple fought for their love through public skepticism and other obstacles.

Andrew and I should have fought more for our love, she said,pinning their troubles on how little time they got together during the first years of their marriage. He was in the Navy,and she instead ensconced in Buckingham Palace,where there were many rules and much loneliness.

We let them part us, she said in a rueful tone,slightly theatrical. We both look back and think we could have done things differently. They divorced after a decade of marriage,the latter years marked by scandal,including an infamous tabloid photograph of the duchess,topless.

The tabloids christened her the Duchess of Pork for her tendency to put on weight. If many Britons found her crass,many Americans deemed her spirited. Still,she wanted to emphasise a serious,contemplative side and thats where Victoria came in.

Why Victoria?

As soon as I got married, she said,you sit down to dinner and there are little forks and knives,right? She asked why that was so,and learned that it was because Victoria had little hands,and they still keep the knives and forks little now.

That was just one of many times Ferguson was struck by the length of Victorias shadow,and it fuelled a desire to put Victoria on the big screen. Her break came when a friend arranged a meeting with the producer Graham King,who was finishing The Departed.

Ferguson helped raise money for the movies 35 million budget and her credit as a producer of the movie has definitely ratcheted up interest.

Theres a curiosity from every corner of the planet about royals,especially the British royals, said Jean-Marc Vallée,the movies director. Everybody wants a piece of Sarah.

She doesnt currently have a residence of her own,in part because shes on the road so much. When shes in England,she often stays in one of Prince Andrews guest rooms at Royal Lodge in Windsor,the primary home of the couples daughters,Beatrice,21,and Eugenie,19. She and Andrew have evolved into the best of friends,she said.

Has time perhaps mellowed even Ferguson? She makes a point of expressing her love for Diana,Princess of Wales,and she makes an even greater point of paying tribute to her former mother-in-law. This monarch now,Elizabeth,this monarch is amazing. This is one of the greatest people ever.