Prince Andrew’s former wife Sarah Ferguson has received new honour, she confirmed on social media.

Taking to Instagram, Sarah shared her stunning photo and disclosed “Today I’m honoured to be joining a wonderful charity, Prevent Breast Cancer, as patron, and will be doing all that I can to help spread the word about the importance of early detection.”

She said prevent breast cancer uses science to save lives and is the UK’s only charity dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer.

“It is so difficult when you’re told that you have cancer, not to let your mind go to the darkest places. You can’t help thinking that it’s a death sentence, and the dread of what lies ahead and how you are going to share the news with your family can be overwhelming,” Sarah said.

She added, "Something that in the last year I’ve had to face twice, when a routine mammogram detected breast cancer, that I underwent treatment for that saved my life proving the importance of never skipping screening appointments, before being diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer.”

Princess Eugenie and Beatrice mother further said one cancer diagnosis was bad enough but to go through all those emotions twice in such quick succession was a lot to handle, and while treatment has been successful and tests show there has been no spread or recurrence, “I’m aware I’m not out of the woods and will have to have checks for the rest of my life.”

“So when I was introduced to the charity by the brilliant @sallydynevor, who is also a breast cancer survivor, when we co-hosted ITV’s Loose Women, I fully understood the importance of the message they’re aiming to spread as it was early detection that saved my life, and I’m now more determined than ever to help raise awareness on that.”