Sarah Ferguson dishes royal secrets on avoiding conversations, leaving parties early

Sarah Ferguson shared the etiquette tricks she has picked up throughout her royal life in her recent podcast episode. She said it is always best to be polite when leaving a party early or getting out of a conversation.

The Duchess of York knows proper protocol having attended a slew of royal events while married to Prince Andrew from 1986 to 1996. On Wednesday's episode of "Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah," her co-host Sarah Thompson asked how she leaves a conversation or a party politely.

Laughing out loud, Fergie, as she is best known, said it "depends on the country you're in" as there are "different cultures which you must always be aware of." She then cited being in British Downtown Abbey and explained, "You get to a point when you say, 'One second, could you hold that thought because I've just got to go and see Fred over there because I've got to give him a message. And by the time that the person you're talking to has gone onto the next subject, they've forgotten that you were coming back to tell something about Fred."

Ferguson also revealed how to avoid answering a "really tricky question that you don't want to answer" by passing it to another person. She said she would say to the one asking, "Oh, that's so interesting, I'll tell you what, I'm going to throw that to ... Matilda. Matilda, what do you think about that question?' And you've thrown the ball again."

The 63-year-old also shared a hack for handling three parties in one night and it has something to do with being loud enough for the other party-goers to know you were there. She told Thompson this "last really good" idea was suggested to her by an Italian man.

"He said, 'If you're really busy, and you have three parties a night, and you don't know how you're going to manage, what you do is you walk through the door, you go in very loudly and walk all the way around the room."

She continued, "And you're so loud that most people are going, 'Oh, my goodness, it's so loud,' Dadadada, and you leave after five minutes."

Ferguson explained that this way the other guests will vouch for your presence at the party when the host says, "Oh, but I didn't see Sarah tonight."

"But the people who were in the room will tell them, 'Oh we did. We saw Sarah.' So, the guests think you've been there all night because they're not counting the minutes you're there, you see. You just do that three times over."

The Duchess of York said being polite was "entrenched" in her and she has always reminded her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to do the same saying, "I always say to my girls, when you're out on the public stage, smile. If you don't want to be polite, don't go out on the public stage — because no one wants to see a grumpy princess."

She added, "I think the most important thing is you've got to get your game on."

Aside from passing lessons about manners to her daughters, Ferguson also helped Meghan Markle with her first curtsy to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The former "Suits" star and Prince Harry revealed in their "Harry & Meghan" Netflix docuseries, released on Dec. 8, 2022, that Fergie taught her how to do a proper curtsy.

Ferguson opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis and her decision to undergo a single mastectomy in a previous "Tea Talks" episode. The surgery was a success and she is now recuperating at Royal Lodge, the home she shares with Prince Andrew.