Alexis Patri 4:50 p.m., November 18, 2021, modified at 4:55 p.m., November 18, 2021

Sarah Ferguson was Thursday the exceptional guest of Stéphane Bern and Matthieu Noël, Thursday in "Historically yours".

In her only interview granted to a French radio station, the Duchess of York presents her new novel, "In the conquest of her freedom", inspired by the life of her grandmother Lady Margaret.

INTERVIEW

Exceptional guest of

Historically yours on

 Thursday to present her novel

Conquering her freedom

, the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson details to Stéphane Bern and Matthieu Noël her love of French literature, and of France.

Her novel is inspired by the life of her grandmother Lady Margaret and tells the story of a woman who frees herself from the shackles of her time and her social environment.

>> Find all the shows of Matthieu Noël and Stéphane Bern every day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here

The stories of Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo

"I studied with Florence Belmondo, we studied together. She was in my class, she was my best friend," recalls the Duchess.

"So I came a lot to France as a child, where I spent time with Alain Delon and with Jean-Paul Belmondo. I was very lucky. I listened to all their stories."

And Sarah Ferguson also quickly fell in love with other stories told by famous French people.

"I was completely obsessed with Flaubert and

Madame Bovary

, and by Balzac," she recalls.

"The way Balzac speaks of provincial life, of the relationship with Paris, of these back and forth trips… That fascinated me."

A novel that mixes French and English influences

So many influences that seem to have inspired in the writing of this new novel the Duchess of York, who does not forget the classic English authors either. "When I talk about literature, it's a mixture. I take things all over the place, like Dickens did when he borrowed from Balzac. And it's like when people ask me what my religion is: I take things. things of Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism. There are lots of wonderful little things in every religion ", compares Sarah Ferguson.

"To write this book, I may have used the literary knowledge that I have as ingredients for a cake that would be at the crossroads of

Madame Bovary

and other things," she adds.

"It's like Olivier Poels' recipe on your show: you need a lot of ingredients to write a novel."

Want to know more ?

You can find the full interview with Sarah Ferguson by clicking on the link here.