Sarah Ferguson 'so close' to daughters

Sarah Ferguson has insisted she is "so close" to her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, that they call themselves "The Tripod".

The Duchess of York has revealed she and Princesses Beatrice, 29, and Eugenie, 27, use the unusual moniker because they are together all the time and always speak to each other if one of them has a problem, and she is pleased they have learnt from her "thousands" of mistakes.

She said: "My girls' health and hearts are extremely strong and doing very well. I don't worry at all because I know they keep good diets, they exercise and they are emotionally supported so the stress levels aren't there.

"My girls and I call ourselves 'The Tripod' because we're so close. They will ring me up if they feel they have a problem.

"And they've learnt from my mistakes - thousands of them. It's great."

The 57-year-old royal remains close to her daughters' father Prince Andrew despite their split in 1996 after 10 years of marriage, and the quartet hold a family meeting every fortnight to discuss what is going on in their lives.

She said: "We're a family unit and we lead by example. We support each other emotionally and we support each other health-wise. At least every two weeks we sit down together and communicate, all four of us.

"We talk about what we're doing, about our work and about our health."

Sarah is also grateful to her own mother Susan Barrantes, who divorced her husband, Sarah's father, Major Ronald Ferguson, when she was just 12 years old.

Speaking to HELLO! magazine, she added: "I must say thanks to mum because she abandoned ship when I was 12. It taught me I will never do that to my children.

"As a result, I think the one thing I've done incredibly well - although I say it myself - is that I'm a really good mum and I think that my girls show that."

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