Fergie furiously silences crowd at Cannes Film Festival during auction for portrait of late Queen
24 May 2024, 14:17 | Updated: 24 May 2024, 14:21
Sarah Ferguson angrily instructed an audience to be “quiet” at the Cannes Film Festival and accused them of “looking for the next party” when they should be “worrying about the climate”.
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The Duchess of York silenced a crowd talking over her as she took to the stage at the 77th Cannes Film Festival gala auction on Thursday.
Fergie ordered the crowd to be “quiet” as she thanked Simon de Pury who created a portrait of the late Queen, which was auctioned off for €475,000 in aid of amFAR, a non-profit which promotes AIDS treatment and HIV prevention around the world.
The duchess, who wore a custom-made £13,202 Lilith Cocktail dress, slammed the audience for looking for ‘the next party’ rather than paying attention.
In a clip taken at the event, she tells the audience: “Quiet! because the incredible person Simon de Pury has done an amazing job tonight, this is exceptional, and all I want to say to everyone in this room is stop, stop, stop.
“Did you see I removed the microphone, because all of you are saying "I want to go, because where is the next party? What are we meant to be doing next?”
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She then went on to discuss the climate, saying people should be more concerned about improving the planet for the next generation.
She continued: “But what I want to say is why are we here? What is the future and why are we not making our planet better for the youth of tomorrow?
“I am so sorry that we have completely destroyed your planet, but thanks to amFAR and these people with scientific brilliance–", where she stops as the clip ends.
Over the course of the evening, the duchess also revealed that she has “put cancer in a corner” as she recovers from the diagnosis which she announced in January.
She said: “This evening I am doing very well. I think that we've managed to get cancer in the right place rather than cancer ruling me.”
“I think you always have to be aware. I think it's great to get checked for breast cancer [and] melanoma. I think you just have to be very candid about it. I think a lot of people get very frightened to talk about these things. I'm very happy with my mastectomy and my breasts and just to talk about it.”
The star-studded event was attended by the likes of Heidi Klum, who filmed the clip of the duchess, as well as Kelly Rowland and Demi Moore.
It comes after Princess Beatrice gave a rare update on her mum's cancer battle earlier this month.
Speaking on This Morning, she said her mother is “all clear now” following a “bumpy health scare”.
