Although Ferguson said she never knew the exact reason for the distance between them, royal commentator Tina Brown offered a widely discussed explanation in her book The Diana Chronicles.
The issue reportedly stemmed from a line Ferguson wrote in an earlier memoir, My Story: Sarah, the Duchess of York, published in 1996.
In the book, Ferguson joked that when she lived in Clapham, Diana had generously lent her many pairs of shoes because they wore the same size. She then added a remark suggesting she had also caught a verruca, or plantar wart, from borrowing them.
According to Brown, that brief comment was deeply upsetting to Diana. The biographer described it as a “fatal line,” arguing that the princess felt embarrassed by the public mention of something so personal. Despite Ferguson’s attempts to apologise, Brown wrote that the two women never reconciled before Diana’s death.
Remembering Diana Years Later
In the years since, Ferguson has spoken warmly about the friendship they once shared. She often describes Diana as someone who understood the pressures of royal life in a way few others could.