The duchess’s ability to poke fun at her cancer diagnosis is frankly inspiring
It’s not the sort of revelation you’d expect from a duchess, but then this is no ordinary duchess. Last week, the Duchess of York declared that she’s named her breast “Derek”. Her left breast, to be specific, because that’s the one that’s been reconstructed following her breast-cancer diagnosis earlier this summer. “He’s very important because he saved my life,” she told her chum Sarah on their podcast. “Why did you name it Derek?”, Sarah asks. “It just made me laugh,” replies Fergie, “and I now have a perky friend with me all the time, protecting me with his shield of armour.”
Fergie goes on to say how grateful she is to the doctors and nurses who helped her, before adding that, “Poor Eric on the right is feeling rather sad, because he’s not as perky as Derek on the left, but whatever. I’ll get Eric balanced.” And that’s probably enough for now about the duchess’s breasts.
But isn’t that rather wonderful? I’ve seen a bit of carping online that such a divulgence is “tacky”, “an overshare” and “typical attention-seeking”, but, having listened to the episode in question, I think it’s a wholly positive approach to a difficult subject. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it if you more normally listen to Melvyn Bragg discuss obscure medieval kings, but in her own chatty way, Fergie finds a place to laugh at her recent diagnosis, and I’m full of admiration for those who can find a grain of humour at such moments. Take away the duchess label for a second and she’s a 63-year-old woman managing to joke about having had cancer. If you think that’s attention-seeking, then I humbly suggest you see a doctor, too.
In the past couple of years, there’s been a bit of talk about the “rehabilitation” of the duchess, which feels a mite patronising. She’s hardly been in prison or drying out. But she has certainly been more visible after years of, well, being less so.