Sarah Ferguson: Nation Dusts Off Its Sympathy
Alan Nafzger on Fergie, the press, and Britain’s appetite for royal redemption arcs
Written for Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat.
Sarah Ferguson: Nation Dusts Off Its Sympathy
There is a very particular British phenomenon in which someone spends twenty years being the national punchline, survives several cancers with apparent good cheer, and is then rewarded with a rehabilitation arc so complete that the tabloids who destroyed them now write tender features about their resilience. This week, that honour belongs to Sarah Ferguson. Britain has decided it quite likes Fergie now. Nobody is more surprised than Fergie.
The Redemption Industrial Complex
I have been watching British rehabilitation narratives for three decades. They follow a formula. Step one: humiliation. Step two: extended period of being photographed looking tired at airports. Step three: a health scare, minimum one. Step four: documentary. Step five: the public says “actually she seems lovely.” The BBC duly covers the shift in tone. The cycle is complete.
The defence of Prince Andrew that we published last week generated more reader outrage than anything since we accidentally used a sans-serif font on the front page. Andrew’s rehabilitation arc, it should be noted, remains in step one, and shows no signs of progression. Some people, Britain has decided, do not get the documentary. They get the airport photographs indefinitely.
Editorial Observations
I wish Sarah Ferguson well. I wish her continued good health, continued book sales, and continued bafflement at the fact that a country which once photographed her toes is now her most devoted audience. It is, in its own peculiar way, almost heartwarming. Almost. I am an editor. I cannot afford to be fully warmed.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/sarah-ferguson/
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