No questions about the royal family, journalists waiting to speak to Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, are told.

They are waiting to talk to her about The Young Victoria, the romantic period drama that she helped produce.

But the instruction proves unnecessary, because it is the duchess herself who brings up the Windsors, and at the drop of a hat.

The 1.73m-tall redhead towers over almost everyone in the room and looks immaculately turned out in a collarless brocade jacket and skirt.

She starts speaking before anyone can get a proper question in. Long day? 'No, happy day! I love this, because without you, how do get we the word out? Let me tell you something, for 15 years I've wanted to do this - 15 years!

'And when I'm standing on the pavement looking at the bus go by with (Young Victoria star) Emily Blunt on it, there's nothing more proud for me - oh, apart from getting married to a prince and having two beautiful girls.'

And there it is - the first reference to Britain's royal family, which the 49-year-old ceased being a part of when she divorced Prince Andrew in 1996, although she got to keep the title of duchess.

One can hardly blame her. The 10-year marriage and all things royal have defined Ferguson's life and her lucrative reinvention as an author and Weight Watchers spokesman.

The film, which she co-produced with Martin Scorsese and Graham King, was her idea, something she dreamt up while writing Travels With Queen Victoria, a book about the formidable 19th-century monarch.

She says: 'In studying her I realised that we all remember her as being dark, small, miserable, grumpy and always fighting with her family.

'But in fact she was beautiful and young and had such an incredible love with Albert, so I think it is only fair that she be remembered also as a woman who had family values and great love.'

Why does she think people are so fascinated with the royals? 'It's not just about becoming a princess - and I was one, it was pretty nice - it's more about daring to think that you can be something if you dare to dream.'

And what she discovers about Victoria gave her fresh insights into her own royal romance.

'I learnt a lot about Albert and Victoria's ability to have great love within the confines of royal life,' she says. 'And I think my story with Andrew is definitely, definitely one of the great loves of the royal family too.'

She goes on to speak about the difficulties of making a marriage work in such an environment, and there is more than a hint of stoic regret in her voice when she says they might still be married had Andrew's navy career not taken him away so often.

She would only sanction a movie being made about their relationship if it was made posthumously, she adds.

'If I was alive, then I'd have to (make the movie) myself because there's a guarantee that they'll get it from press clippings and a lot of that was rubbish,' she says vehemently.

Asked whether her life was better as a royal, and you get the feeling that she is pulling her punches when she says: 'I don't know if it was more fulfilling then or now. All I know is I've learnt a lot of lessons from then.

'And one of the greatest people I've learnt lessons from is the Queen. She is the most extraordinary lady I've met in my life, and she's full of forgiveness.'

In unhappier times, Ferguson's public image was raked over the coals. The tabloids made fun of her weight, calling her 'the Duchess of Pork', and criticised her dress sense and lack of decorum. The mountain of debt she accumulated did not help either.

It still stings. She segues from a question about whether the movie's cast and crew had been intimidated when she came on set, to an unprompted confession about her lack of confidence.

When people stare, 'I immediately think I've done something wrong, and then I go down on myself because I'm still very lacking in confidence', she says.

Has she recovered from the cruel scrutiny of the past?

'I don't think I'll ever recover - gonna cry now so don't go there,' she says with a brittle smile.

The heart-on-sleeve approach seems to work though. An otherwise stern-faced journalist gets up to hug her, another tells her how good she looks and a third gushes: 'You're a very admirable woman and all my readers admire you enormously.'

Fergie, it seems, has learned a thing or two about the press.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.