Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
PIERS Morgan has revealed how his big-hearted pal Sarah Ferguson changed his life forever and helped launch his TV career.
The broadcaster, 58, told how he reached out to the Royal following her devastating cancer diagnosis – offering his “love and support”.
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The Sun revealed the Duchess of York, 63, had a “successful” operation after finding out she had breast cancer.
She was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone, London, last Tuesday.
Piers, who has been friends with Sarah for 30 years, has since reminisced on their relationship after revealing the sweet text he sent to her.
Admitting “she did something which was to change my life”, Piers thanked the Duchess, also known as ‘Fergie’, for her selfless act.
Writing in The Sun, Piers said: “I’d reached the finale of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice USA show in 2008 and had to source big prizes for a charity auction and people to pay big money for them.
“I visited Sarah, working in New York at the time, to ask for help.
“‘Hello, you old devil!’ she cried, smacking me heartily on the back (again!) and quickly agreeing to offer a royal tea with herself as a prize.
“Then I asked: ‘Who’s the most generous person you know in this city?’
“‘Howard Lutnick’,” she replied, without hesitation.
“‘Who’s he?’
“‘He’s the boss of Cantor Fitzgerald, who had the top four floors of One World Trade Center when it went down on 9/11, killing over 650 of his employees, including his brother.
“‘Since then, he’s raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the victims’ families.'”
Piers told how Sarah phoned Howard and told him to go to the auction that night.
He continued: “When it started, with Trump sitting in the front row, bidding for tea with the Duchess reached $10,000 before a balding besuited man stepped forward and bellowed: ‘$100,000.’
“It was Howard Lutnick.
“My second prize was dinner with Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne.
“‘I’ll go another $100,000,’ said Howard, winking at me.”
Piers admitted he won because of Sarah “who’d gone out of her way to help a former tabloid editor who’d once made her life miserable”.
He added: “As a result, I landed Larry King’s prime-time slot at CNN, which was a massive career boost.”
The pair met in 1996 at the instigation of Princess Diana.
They then had lunch together shortly after and “instantly hit it off”.
The Duchess was sadly delivered the cancer news after a recent routine mammogram only a couple of weeks ago.
It is believed she needed a major operation and was only discharged Sunday morning after six days of medical care.
But friends have described the operation as “successful”.
One revealed that Fergie has been told that the “prognosis is good” thanks to the “early detection”.
She is now believed to be resting at home with her family in Windsor.