THE Duchess of York telephoned a New York newspaper to deny ``vicious rumours'' that the Queen considered her a suicide risk.
She also denied reports that the Queen was discussing settling her debts - reported to be around #4m - in exchange for the duke being given custody of the Yorks' two daughters.
The call to the New York Times was made as the duchess prepared to go to London's Royal Albert Hall for a surprise appearance as a presenter at the National Television Awards on Tuesday night.
She had learned that rumours that the Queen had ``placed her on a suicide watch'' were being reported on American radio and TV.
Yesterday's edition of the paper quotes her as saying: ``It would hardly be likely for a woman who was going to commit suicide and sell her children to go out and be the guest of honour at a dinner.''
A spokesman for the duchess said: ``She spoke to the New York Times because she wanted to clear up these vicious rumours.''
The duchess said: ``I am the grown-up mother of two healthy children.
``The idea of suicide never has and never will come into my head.''
The New York Times had not used either story about the duchess but was chosen for the denial because of its reputation as a newspaper of record, the spokesman said.
``The duchess wanted to reach a great number of people through a well-respected news organisation,'' he said.
``The rumours were complete falsehoods and the worst rumour-mongering.''
Of the reported ``deal'', the duchess said: ``There was no such discussion and there won't be.''
Some reports also suggested that part of the rumoured settlement might involve her exile. Asked if she might live outside Britain, she said: ``I don't know yet.''
Buckingham Palace has dismissed the suggestions of a deal as ``highly speculative''.
Soon after making the call, the duchess was showing every sign of enjoying life as she received warm applause at the Royal Albert Hall.
She was able to joke about her situation as she read the nominations for the best drama prize.
There was laughter as she said: ``I am sure that some of you may think I should be receiving this award rather than presenting it.''
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article