Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, was used to being in the news.

After all, divorcing from Price Andrew, who’s the Queen’s son, will throw you under the media spotlight.

However, she had gotten her life on track post divorce, landing an ambassador deal with Weight Watchers.

In 2003, she was travelling to Australia to promote Weight Watchers when she landed to some horrific news.

Her father, Major Ronald Ferguson, aged 61, had passed away due to a heart attack.

As Fergie was travelling to Australia, she didn’t hear the news until she was on her way to a scheduled appointment with the Today show. 

The news spread across the country and fans were wondering whether or not the Duchess of York would still appear on the show due to the heartbreaking news.

To their surprise, she did.

During the interview, Fergie admitted that the reason she was there was for her father.

Sarah Ferguson and her father Major Ronald Ferguson

“Sitting there sobbing, my father would have said, ‘What are you doing? You have your obligations.’”

“Now is the time he needs me to go out there and honour my commitments.”

As she was on a tight schedule, many more appearances were booked for Fergie and she honoured them all.

“He always brought me up to put on the stiff upper lip and get on with it,” Sarah explained of her father.

Despite being in Australia, Fergie ensured she was a part of the funeral planning process for her father, even though her sister and stepmother were at home in the UK.