EMILY PRESCOTT: Fergie steps in for best friend’s charity drive and offers to drive a Winnebago from Land’s End to John O’Groats
She’s had a variety of jobs since she left the royal family: Mills & Boon author, Weight Watchers spokeswoman, TV correspondent… and now the Duchess of York can add one more entry to her CV: Winnebago Chauffeur.
Sarah Ferguson has volunteered to join the support crew when her friend, the Countess of Bathurst, takes a charity cycle ride from Land’s End to John o’ Groats in September.
Getting behind the wheel of the RV, Fergie will be vital during the 2,000-mile journey to raise money for the Countess’s new charity, the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals (NFRSA). Sarah, 63, might even be taking the Queen’s corgis for the ride, as she adopted Sandy and Muick after the late Her Majesty passed away last September.
“They’re a big supporter of the NFRSA,” Fergie joked to me at the charity’s launch last week.
However, the corgis weren’t at the party at Christie’s auction house in central London – even though there were many Labrador puppies training to become service dogs – and Sarah explained, “Sandy and Muick would chase the puppies.”
Sarah Ferguson has volunteered to join the support crew when her friend, the Countess of Bathurst, takes a charity cycle ride from Land’s End to John o’ Groats in September
She’s had a variety of jobs since she left the royal family: Mills & Boon author, Weight Watchers spokeswoman, TV correspondent…
Speaking of her stint as a Winnebago driver, the Duchess added: “I’m delighted to be doing this work with Lady B, especially as I just can’t bear to think that these animals have served us so well and then there’s no one to to take care of them. .’ She added that she was eager to help because “we’re only as good as the team around us.”
Fergie previously showed her support for the charity’s work by posing with her fundraising calendars early this year.
And the Winnebago won’t be the only help Lady Bathurst, 57, will get, as she’ll take on her challenge on a £10,000 Porsche e-bike, capable of 15mph thanks to its battery-powered motor.
Fergie wasn’t the only famous face at the NFRSA launch, as other attendees included Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes and Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden, who offered £2,100 for the chance to watch an Alsatian police force being trained by handlers in the West Midlands.