Sarah, Duchess of York, has kicked off her Australian book tour – in the outer Perth suburb of Joondalup, with about 700 people cramming Perth’s Joondalup resort on Friday night to hear her speak.

That’s right, in a refreshing change for West Australians they’re getting prioritised for a national tour, with the Duchess making five WA stops – the other four being in Bunbury, Busselton, Mosman Park and Perth city – then two in Sydney.

The reason? An extensive children’s book deal signed with Perth-based Serenity Press, with multiple picture books illustrated by West Australian and Indigenous artists launched on Friday night, all thanks to an impulsive message Perth author Karen Weaver sent.

“She dared, in 2019, to send me a message on Instagram saying, ‘I would love to publish your books for you,’” Ferguson told WAtoday before Friday night’s event.

“Her son was crazy about [my character] Budgie the Helicopter.”

Ferguson is a Sunday Times and New York Times-bestselling author of more than 80 books including memoirs, nonfiction, children’s books and historical and young adult fiction.

The Perth-published Duchess Serenity Press collection launched Friday night also includes Fabulous Food Art, a collaboration with TikTokker Laleh Mohmedi of Jacob’s Food Diaries fame, with recipes based on the picture book characters.

Asked if her grandchildren were keen on her books, Ferguson said they were “major critics”, but that reading to them was a chance to “re-parent”.

She said Australia was close to her heart as it had for nearly 50 years “looked after and embraced” her sister Jane, who had met her on Thursday at Perth airport “pretending to be a koala”.