AceShowbiz - Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, has been told by doctors she has skin cancer. The 64-year-old author - who has daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie with ex-husband Prince Andrew - has got several moles on her body removed, with tests finding one to be a malignant melanoma, just six months after she was treated for breast cancer.

Due to face "further investigations" to determine if the cancer has been caught early, the duchess is said to be "in good spirits". "Following her diagnosis with an early form of breast cancer this summer, Sarah, Duchess of York has now been diagnosed with malignant melanoma," her spokesperson told The Sun.

"Her dermatologist asked that several moles were removed and analysed at the same time as the Duchess was undergoing reconstructive surgery following her mastectomy, and one of these has been identified as cancerous."

"She is undergoing further investigations to ensure that this has been caught in the early stages. Clearly, another diagnosis so soon after treatment for breast cancer has been distressing but the Duchess remains in good spirits."

Sarah has expressed her gratitude to the medical team who have been treating her, which is reported to include Dr. Andrew Furness, consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London and Catherine Borysiewicz, consultant dermatologist at the King Edward VII Hospital in London.

The representative continued, "The Duchess wants to thank the entire medical team which has supported her, particularly her dermatologist whose vigilance ensured the illness was detected when it was. She believes her experience underlines the importance of checking the size, shape, colour and texture and emergence of new moles that can be a sign of melanoma."

The "Her Heart for a Compass" author is believed to be recuperating at the MAYRLIFE clinic in Austria.