NEW YORK: Just two months ago, she accused her mother of horrific abuse in an emotional outpouring on US TV.
Her late mother, Susan Barrantes, regularly beat her, the Duchess of York alleged during her reality television show, Finding Sarah.
“When she used to hit me because I didn’t sit on my potty, or wouldn’t eat, a little vein would come up on the centre of my head near my red hair,” she said, saying her mother called it the “sign of the devil” and would shout: “I’m going to beat that devil out!”
But now the Duchess, who was reportedly paid £200 000 (about R2.2 million) by Oprah Winfrey for the series, has claimed it was a joke.
In an interview with Hello! magazine – for which she is said to have again been generously compensated – the Duchess of York insists she actually idolised her late mother, who died in a car crash in 1998.
The Duchess elaborated on her beating allegation: “She didn’t actually do that… she probably smacked my bottom a couple of times.
“I was just being light-hearted.
“She was a wonderful mother and I loved every moment with her.” – Daily Mail