Paul Morigi, Dominic Lipinski/Getty ImagesDuchess Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson may not have been invited to the royal wedding, but that hasn't stopped her from pledging her support for Kate Middleton in the wake of the topless photo scandal.
Speaking to the U.K.'s Daily Mail from the United States during the promotional tour for her latest children's book, Ballerina Rose, Fergie said she has "total empathy and sympathy for [Kate]."
As it happens, Fergie knows of what she speaks and is infamously no stranger to such scandals, having been photographed topless while sunbathing at a remote villa in the South of France 20 years ago with American businessman John Bryan. (The mother of princesses Beatrice and Eugenie was married to Prince Andrew at the time and the couple divorced four years after the scandal.)
"I have been there and know what it's like," Fergie continued. "Everyone is entitled to privacy. It is a devastating invasion of one's personal inner space. It is deplorable, abhorrent and despicable."
Not only did Fergie express disgust with the shaming public spotlight, but she also praised Kate—who arrived in the Solomon Islands Sunday as part of the ongoing Diamond Jubilee tour—for her poise and class in the midst of the royal headache.
"She is a beautiful young woman doing a great job for the country. Why should she be stripped of that moment with her husband?"
Now that's something we can all agree on.