Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, photographed by Holly Fernando for The Telegraph

From the interview we learn that she is now the author of 77 books (for children) and has at last written a novel for adults, Heart for a Compass, about the vicissitudes of court life in the Victorian era, told through the story of her great-aunt, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott. She parries any unwelcome question with remarks about this debut.

Sarah employed an interesting device: when the interviewee proposes to separate her various personas in order to avoid awkward turns of phrase, the 61-year-old royal declared at once that she is at present neither the Duchess nor Fergie, but simply Sarah.

Judging by what one reads, a new stage is beginning in the life of the Duchess of York in her seventh decade. She wishes to present herself as a serious woman, a venerable mother and a philanthropist, and to retouch a little the earlier image of the eccentric and shameless red-headed otter, an endeavour wholeheartedly supported by Buckingham Palace.

PS The photo shoot is lovely, the styling excellent.