21 questions

Sarah, Duchess of York, Wears Her Hair Long

Fergie

Photo: Getty Images


Name: Sarah, Duchess of York

Age: 48

Job: Author, royal, and philanthropist. Her Sarah Ferguson Foundation will be the beneficiary of Thursday night’s La Dolce Vita Gala at Cipriani Wall Street.

Borough: Manhattan

Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
I feel Eloise and I are similar in spirit.

What do you actually do all day in your job?
I connect dots. By that I mean my mind is like an idea factory, constantly on overdrive. So my job, in a sense, is building bridges that link a good concept with the right people and resources. In my work for the Sarah Ferguson Foundation, I get personally involved in raising funds for school-building projects in Sierra Leone and Liberia. As co-CEO of Hartmoor, my multimedia lifestyle company, I’m constantly developing ideas for new products, film, TV, books, and the Web, and then search my rolodex for the right contacts. I’ve got a great team around me, but I am a very hands-on type of person and in truth I’m never, ever idle.

Where do you get your coffee?
Starbucks.

Do you give money to panhandlers?
I do. I’ve also given up my coat and gloves and bought lunch. I can’t easily ignore people who are suffering.

What’s your drink?
I drink Earl Grey tea throughout the day. Champagne.

How often do you prepare your own meals?
I don’t cook, won’t cook, can’t cook, shan’t cook. Since I am constantly on the move, I’m adept at ordering off any kind of menu.

What’s your favorite medication?
I’m not a pill taker. Exercise, good food, and people I love are the best prevention I know.

What’s hanging above your sofa?
Large photo prints of landscapes I’ve shot in India and Argentina.

How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
I wear my hair long.

When’s bedtime?
Generally after 2 a.m. and before 4 a.m. And on workdays I can still be up and out to the gym by sunrise.

Brunch: pro or con?
Definitely pro. I like socializing at brunch.

What’s your thread count?
You might expect me to say something like 600, but linen is woven differently than cotton and in fact the thread count is numerically lower, yet no less luxurious. My ancestor Thomas Ferguson started a company that to this day makes the best linens in the world. I am devout about slipping between my extraordinary Ferguson family sheets at night.

What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Lunch at Harry Cipriani.

What’s the last thing you saw on Broadway?
I haven’t been lately, but I hear Spring Awakening is great.

Who should be the next president?
Someone strong in mind and heart.

What’s your brand of jeans?
I don’t wear them often, but I like wearing anything from my friend Tommy Hilfiger.

What do you hate most about living in New York?
I don’t hate anything about New York. The pace of life here can make my head spin, but that’s hardly a complaint.

When’s the last time you drove a car?
I drive all the time in England.

Times, Post, or Daily News?
All three for different reasons.

Yankees or Mets?
Both, since I don’t really know baseball.

What makes someone a New Yorker?
A New Yorker is independent, direct, resourceful, charismatic, intense, and friendly. I see this everywhere I go, from the man at the newsstand to the man making news.

Sarah, Duchess of York, Wears Her Hair Long