Sarah, Duchess of York January 1988, during the trip to New York to attend a fundraising event, the Duchess was attacked by a young man at the entrance of her hotel. The man, who was screaming "murderers 3/8" and had the Irish Republican Army flag in his hands when he rushed at Sarah, was "charged with attempted assault on the Duchess and assault on a federal agent". Later a State Department press officer stated that "she was unharmed in the incident". In March 1988, the Duke and Duchess of York visited California. The trip was described by two British newspapers as a "brash, vulgar,
Sarah, Duchess of York That Looked at a King", with Sarah's voice in the role of the Queen; the story is derived from the "Mary Poppins" books by P. L. Travers. Sarah also made a cameo in the American television sitcom "Friends" in 1998. Sarah had a producing role (credited as "Sarah Ferguson") in the 2009 Jean-Marc Vallée film "The Young Victoria", starring Emily Blunt and featured a background player role for Sarah's daughter Princess Beatrice. It was Sarah who conceived the idea for a film based upon the early years of Queen Victoria. She had been interested in the queen since her marriage