Queen Elizabeth’s reassurance in seven words left Sarah Ferguson in tears

Ferguson described how the monarch became a mother figure during her early years within the royal family and remained a constant source of support through marriage, motherhood, scandal and illness.

The comments come as renewed attention is paid to the Queen’s quiet influence behind the palace walls and her role in keeping relatives out of the public eye – compared to the current monarchy mired in scandal.

Ferguson, now 66, was just 26 when she married the former Prince Andrew, now 65, but she said her bond with the Windsors started long before that.

Her mother, Susan Barrantes, was a close friend of the Queen before she left the United Kingdom for Argentina with her second husband, Héctor Barrantes Sansoni.

That departure, Ferguson said, deepened her dependence on the monarch.

“My mother was her good friend, so she knew me all my life, and she loved me. The queen was much more my mother than my mother,” she said.

“I called her mommy. She never let me down, even though I let her down. Even through the darkest days, she never left me.”