Sarah Ferguson on Girls and Self-Esteem

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, stopped by the Child Mind Institute this morning to learn a little more about what we do and talk a bit about an issue of special concern to her—helping girls develop healthy self-esteem.

Sarah is appealingly frank and she talks rather disarmingly about her own struggles with self-esteem, especially when she was a young princess being ridiculed by the British tabloids as “fat, frumpy Fergie” and “The Duchess of Pork.” “I lost all my self-esteem, I lost any confidence I had, I lost myself, completely,” she said, “and I don’t want any girl to have to go through that. So I focus a lot of my attention on building self-esteem at a very young age.”

She empathizes with young girls who compare themselves to “stick-thin” models and feel inadequate. “I had that with Diana, who was stick-thin, and I was always the one running behind with the rather large backside,” she said.

She talks about the importance of parents listening to children and taking their fears and frustrations seriously, and letting them know that you love them “completely as they are.”

She also talked at some length about discovering that her daughter, Princess Beatrice, is dyslexic. Beatrice was 7 years old when she seemed to lose her joy, feel ostracized at school, become introverted. Sarah thought at first that her daughter might have been targeted by bullies because she was a princess, but a very good teacher, she said, explained that Beatrice was struggling with reading and not being able to keep up with the other children. With special help in school, Sarah said, Beatrice did well and has recently finished college.

Sarah supports many different efforts to help children and has published quite a few children’s books, including her latest, Ballerina Rosie, about a little girl whose red curls are always “squeaking out of her bun” and whose tutu is usually askew, who thinks all the girls in her ballet class are perfect except her. Suffice it to say that a shot of confidence comes her way, compliments of the Duchess.