Sarah Ferguson 'can relate' to Meghan Markle's struggles: 'I have been in Meghan's shoes'

Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson "can relate" to what Meghan Markle is going through.

The Duchess of York, 60, gave a rare interview to Vogue Arabia, in which she opened up about a variety of hot-button topics relating to the royal family, including Meghan and Prince Harry's ongoing struggle with their relationship with the media.

"It must be hard for Meghan, and I can relate to her," she said. "I believe she is modern and fabulous. She was famous before. She is great. Why can’t Meghan be great? Why can’t she be celebrated?"

"Any advice for her? I tend not to give advice because it is taken out of context, but I have been in Meghan’s shoes, and I still am," Fergie went on. "There’s always a twist of negativity and it just gets so sad and tiring; it’s hard and mean. I abhor bullying and I feel desperately sorry for the pain they must be going through because I’ve been through it."

Ferguson added that she didn't handle her situation correctly when she was having a difficult time dealing with negative media attention.

"I eventually self-sabotaged. I didn’t think of the ramifications of my actions," she told Vogue Arabia. "I was at the bottom of the barrel. It was almost as if I wanted to be unlovable. But when I was at the bottom I wrote the book, Finding Sarah."

"It was difficult but I’m here now," she said later. "I feel the chains of my soul are freed. It’s still difficult, though."

The duchess also explained that her daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, also feel a pressure to be "perfect" at all times as they try to avoid negative press.

"They say that unless they are perfect, it’s front page news, and that’s hard," she said.

Read Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson's full interview with Vogue Arabia here.