For my own part, I've always felt sorry for Sarah, duchess of York.
So far as I'm aware, she was a very good wife until her husband's continual absences put a more than awkward strain on the marriage. She was, once, also, immensely popular with her ex-husband's family.
More: I remember when, after the birth of her second child, she was castigated in the press as 'The Duchess of Pork', well before her marriage was dissolved. Such spite! But it's why most of the world feels so disdainfully towards the LCD British press.
The Duchess came to Australia to visit her husband, who was on naval duty, and she was, subsequently, bombarded with press-determined disdain of her for leaving her small children. I, for one, understood her need and wish to be with her husband, no matter how fleetingly, at such an emotional time.
And, to my certain knowledge, it wasn't as if British aristos and its immitators wasn't conditioned to handing over the well-being of their small children to others, often for much less than natural purposes.
There are one or two things in Sarah's favour which I think that we might well reflect upon, viz;
Her ex-husband genuinely likes her, helps her, and spends quality time with her, particularly time pertaining to their two children;
Her daughters, obviously, love her and admire her;
Whatever her extravagances in the past, Sarah paid off her more than $4m debt, and continues to work successfully and earn an income and her living;
She, together with her sister Jane, subsidised and paid their mother's debts and provided a healthy and wholesome life for Susan, until she died.
When her father was beseiged because of his spurious sexual peccadiloes, The Duchess of York stood by him, despite the sneers and condemnation from those who should have known better.
Ergo: She proved more than once that she was dutiful and loving and supportive daughter.
The Duchess has been the instigator and supporter of many admirable charitable causes. That there's been little public acknowledgement of this is to her credit, but her commitment is easily discerned if one but takes the trouble to look for it.
The photos of Sarah cavorting with a man, not her husband, were indeed startling and shocking. I would ask, though, how many of us might feel comfortable with photographers with long-range lenses invading our most private moments. That, to me, has always been the issue.
So, to return to Sarah's profligacy as a royal princess, I offer this assessment of the Queen Mother, one of my all-time favourites. Perhaps it's right - maybe it's wrong. If so, it has as much import as the unnecessily defensive and maladroit newspaper articles which continue to hound and try to diminish Sarah.
The Empress of Extravagance: How the Queen Mother left behind more than £7m in debts | Mail Online