BOUNCING BACK FROM CANCER WITH HER LATEST BOOK - SARAH, DUCHESS OF YORK

ON FORGING A NEW CAREER WITH HER FAMILY'S SUPPORT AFTER ILLNESS CHANGED HER OUTLOOK ON LIFE

- LAURA BENJAMIN

Inside the fittingly named Royal Suite at the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel, there is a whirlwind of activity. Lights and cameras are being assembled, while hair and makeup artists demonstrate their skills.

And in the midst of all the action is an instantly recognizable flame-haired woman who is chatting away to everyone while simultaneously firing instructions to her team about her charity projects.

Sarah, Duchess of York, is in fine form and, given the year she has just had, it’s a pleasure to see her back to her best.

Last summer, she was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram and underwent a single mastectomy. Six months later, she was found to have malignant melanoma.

Now, although she has been told by her doctors that she shouldn’t use the phrase “cancer-free” and is having regular checkups for any recurrence, the outlook is positive.

She got through that time, she says, with the help of her children – Princess Beatrice, 35, and Princess Eugenie, 34 – along with Beatrice’s stepson, Wolfie, 8, and daughter Sienna, 2, and Eugenie’s sons, August, 3, and Ernest, who just turned one.

“I have the most exceptional family and an extraordinarily great team,” she tells Hello! during our exclusive interview and photoshoot. “I have an enormous ability to turn to joy.”

Since her first diagnosis, Sarah has made it her mission to encourage people to be vigilant about their health. She says the experience has influenced her outlook on life.

“I think it woke me up,” she says. “It gave me a swift kick in the butt and told me, ‘Right, are you going to start living now, at 64, or are you going to keep on not quite living?’”