Sarah Ferguson has issued a heartfelt statement on her 65th birthday as she opens up about her recent health scares.

The Duchess of York celebrated her birthday on Tuesday and received thousands of well wishes from people from across the globe.

After attending an event in London to raise vital funds for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, the duchess issued a statement on Instagram reflecting on the last year.

The mum-of-two wrote: “Thank you for all of your wonderful birthday wishes! I’m feeling incredibly grateful to be here every day, to smell the flowers, to read and write, and to be able to see my daughters and my grandchildren.

“It has been an extraordinary, full year – a year of recovery and of growth – and I just feel so lucky.

Fergie told Hello!: “I have to be checked regularly and I have to put cream on my face to get out past sun damage, which means big blisters on my face, chest and hands for three weeks.

“But I’m not doing immunotherapy, taking any drugs or doing chemotherapy, for which I’m very grateful.

“I have always brought up my girls to be so honest and frank that they know I’m going to tell it to them straight, however difficult it is.

“So when they said: ‘Mummy, tell us the absolute truth – have they got all the cancer out?’ and the answer was yes, they knew they were safe.”