Royal 'couch potatoes'

Jun 7, 2006, 14:17 GMT

Britain's Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, has revealed she and her teenage daughters are 'couch potatoes'.

The royal, who is married to Britain's Prince Andrew, told America's Ladies' Home Journal magazine how she and her daughters - Princess Beatrice, 17, and 16-year-old Eugenie - spend their weekends lazing on the couch, 'glued' to the TV.

The Duchess revealed the trio sometimes lay on the couch for nearly 20 hours, watching everything from TV series to DVDs.

Apparently, the family enjoy their digital past-time so much that Sarah has even nicknamed her and the girls 'The Tripod'.

She said: ''The Tripod' is how you see us today. Totally and utterly connected in every single way.'

The flame-haired royal said the trio especially enjoy watching American drama series and 'educational' films like 'Braveheart'.

She continued: 'On weekends, we sleep until midday. Then Andrew calls and says, 'What are you doing this afternoon?'

'The answer is always the same, 'We're watching DVDs'. All afternoon. We watch from 2 o'clock through until midnight.

'We don't move from our chairs. On Sunday it's the same, unless they're going back to school, in which case we'll stop at six.'

Ferguson's admissions have sparked outrage among children's charities, which have condemned her for encouraging her daughters to watch so much TV.

Michelle Elliott from UK charity Kidscape, was quoted in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper as saying: 'If my children were watching so much I would be ashamed to tell anyone - let alone encourage it. They should be going out and doing things together rather than depending on DVDs to bring them together.'

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