You always seem to have lots of projects on the go; can you tell us what you are working on at the moment?

I was a Producer on the film The Young Victoria which stars Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend. When I first married, my husband, The Duke of York, immediately went away to sea; I missed him terribly and wanted to learn more about the family I was marrying. I was very fortunate to have been given access to some extraordinary archives and became fascinated in the life of Queen Victoria and in particular the early undocumented years of her as a young Queen, so full of vitality and so in love with her Prince.

I would spend hours and hours in the library and was privileged to have worked with the historian Benita Stoney and then write two books; Travels with Young Victoria and Life at Osborne House. Many years later, I met Martin Scorsese and talked to him about the young Victoria and how sad it was that her legacy was of a rather dour sombre widow; I suggested he made a film about her early life but it had to be produced in the UK and with a British cast. I pestered him for a good few years and finally he gave in and the Young Victoria was released in the UK in March. It was one of the proudest days of my life. (The Young Victoria DVD is out on 13th July)

I’ve recently been busy campaigning for awareness of the work of the White Ribbon Alliance: every minute of every day, a woman dies of pregnancy related complications and the WRA exists to change that. www.whiteribbonalliance.com. We’ve been lucky to have the support of Sarah Brown and Queen Rainer of Jordan.

This month I have been supporting some of the other causes close to my heart. Recently I visited and opened the new state of the art Teenage Cancer Trust unit at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff with fellow supporters Roger Daltry and Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics. It was the 10thunit to be opened and is a result of tireless fundraising by the Teenage Cancer Trust and supporters across the country. I have been a Patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust since it began 20 years ago – the units are solely for teenagers and provide an environment where they are allowed to be teenagers as well as receiving the best possible medical treatment in a recognised centre of excellence.

The teenagers all say their environment makes a tangible and positive difference to their circumstances; they are extraordinarily brave and selfless – as my friend Shelley said “When times are bad, it’s okay because it makes room for better days to happen”. These teenagers are our future and they deserve our love and respect and so I, alongside Beatrice and Eugenie, will continue to champion their cause. We hope to have 22 units opened by 2012 so every teenager in the land will have access to one of these units. www.teenagecancertrust.org

That evening, Beatrice and I hosted a dinner to help raise money and awareness for the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust, to help increase the number of Black and Mixed Parentage people on the UK Bone Marrow Register. The statistics speak for themselves: if a black person gets leukaemia there is only a 1 in 250,000 chance of finding a compatible bone marrow donor yet for a white person it’s 1 in 5. We were inspired to support the ACLT by the extraordinary courage of our friend Daniel de Gale who we’d known for 10 years and tragically died last year after complications – he’d fought so courageously and campaigned for awareness right to the end and it is now his mother Beverly and Orin who are carrying on the campaign to find more African Caribbean bone marrow donors in his memory.

Last week, again supported by my daughter Beatrice, we hosted a small event for the charity ‘Children in Crisis’, which I founded 15 years ago. It was held at the Foundling Museum, a quiet oasis in Central London and through the generous support of those attending, we hope to have raised £100,000 to build two schools in the Congo with each school enabling 300 children a year to go to school for the first time ever giving those children a safer, healthier and more prosperous future. Our aim is to raise £10 million in the next four years to allow 250,000 children in post conflict countries to go to school

How important is a healthy diet to you?

I am a great believer in healthy living. I spent 12 years as a spokesperson for Weight Watchers International studying sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition and BMI. I was spokesperson for the American Heart Foundation and through their work, it made me aware of the ways in which we can improve our lifestyles – regardless of budget people need to spend their money on fresh fruit and vegetables, not fast food, you’ll realise it’s actually a lot cheaper and easier than you might think. I have been very public in my battle with weight – from my teenage years when I struggled with emotions after my mother left home for Argentina. Eating became something more than just sustenance.

Certain foods calmed my nerves and filled the emotional void and I would judge myself and go through all those emotions and feelings – I still have these issues but have learnt to manage them and no longer use food to deal with these negative emotions as I did in the past. That’s because living healthily is all about changing your lifestyle by changing your eating habits; you have to think: Do you want to see your children get married? Do you want to see your future in front of you? If you do, then you have to change your lifestyle. Being healthy is about living a lifestyle. It’s not about aesthetics, it’s about health and nutrition and healthy living. It can be a big change and I can relate to every single person who wants to change for the better.

You lead a very busy lifestyle and travel around a lot, what do you do to keep healthy and active when you are on the go?

As part of my change for a healthier lifestyle, I started exercising, for one. I now try to stick to a regime whereby I run for one hour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings – which is about six miles at the moment. Running is a great all-rounder – you’re exercising while at the same time enjoying some fresh air. I certainly didn’t enjoy it from the outset – I loathed the thought actually.

I started riding a bike too – I was fortunate to be able to ride around beautiful Windsor Park and developed a routine from there. Once you get into a routine of exercise, you miss it if you can’t do it. All of us need to try out difference forms of exercise until we find the ones that best suit us because that’s the one you’ll stick with. I’m a working parent like so many people and it is a challenge to fit everything in – you have to do what you have to do and it’s a juggling act, parenting, working and sticking to your training when you can.

I took up yoga and pilates ten years ago and this has really helped too – you can do this anywhere once you know the routine.

Every morning when I can and if possible I go to the gym as well. I try and eat fresh food no matter where I am, and drink plenty of water.

How do you back up your fitness regime when it comes to food?

I like to eat soup and a lot of it and all sorts of varieties. I eat masses of fresh vegetables and am eating more and more berries particularly raspberries and blueberries – they’re high in vitamin c which helps me maintain a healthy immune system, a priority for all the travelling I do. They’re also low in calories so great for snacking and at mealtimes

Are you a fan of berries?

Yes, as I’ve said not only do I love the taste of berries but they are very good for helping me maintain a healthy and nutritious diet. They are perfect for having with my breakfast or later on in the day as a healthy snack. Making sure the fridge is well stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables is vital in maintaining a healthy diet and avoiding the temptation to snack on unhealthy convenience food.

As a mother, what advice would give to other mothers to stay strong and healthy?

It is important to keep active and maintain a healthy diet whatever you are doing – for both the body and mind.

Take some time each day to care for yourself, even if it’s half an hour to take a walk or to unwind and reflect. We all lead such busy and demanding lives and stress robs us of our strength and eventually our health so we need to take steps to manage this. Take some exercise, even if it’s a brisk 20 minute walk every day and combine this with a healthy and nutritious diet which can be simple and inexpensive.

And find time to talk and laugh with your family and friends.

Image by Mark Stewart