SF's Cliff Richard interview on This Morning was comedy gold. Him banging on about Elvis's weight, while the former Weight Watcher's ambassador looks mortified and completely out of her depth, Alison Hammond looked like she wants to punch him, and that Dermot fellow in the middle looking like he wanted the sofa to swallow him up.
I do agree, though, SF should have stopped trading off her Duchess title a long time ago, and so should have Diana, as soon as she had made her feelings about the family clear and public and aired all her dirty laundry. Neither of them needed to use them, they were extremely famous, and well known in their own right by the time they had moved on to do other things. SF was colloquially known as (and still is) "Fergie" abroad (I mean, Friends is on loop everywhere - "It's Fergie, baby!"), and DS never shrugged off "Lady Di" in many countries. Everyone knew who they had been married to, there was no need to retain the royal titles.
I suppose the flip side of that is that they decided they earned their titles through what they (objectively or subjectively) had to give up and put up with for their (fairly lengthy) marriages. They both put in a considerable amount of time doing royal duties before their messy divorces. It's the crossroads of feminism and independence and being institutionalised: wanting to throw off the royal shackles and stick two fingers up at the RF that essentially has to eject them, and the harsh reality of being a former royal, and not wanting to let go of the status and trappings of something so rarely bestowed - only once in a lifetime if you are one of the very few extremely lucky.
The other difference is that SF and DS went into this as young and naive women (one a teenager) thinking this was their forever after story. While their marriages and experiences were not good, they respected the institution while they were in it. Many commentators believe that H&M (mature adults) went Into their marriage knowing they were never going to stay and be minor working royals, doing mundane engagements and being secondary to W&K. And they certainly do not respect the RF if their actions and words are to be believed (actual and reported), either when they were in it or now. So it's hard to understand why they cling onto the titles, other than for the fact that it makes them a little bit exotic in Hollywood.
Actually, at the Vanity Fair event the other day, when M went as MM, actor/producer/philanthropist, rather than duchess, I thought she looked more relaxed, happy and beautiful (natural smile, not looking strained) than she has since she first came onto the scene. She looked like she was in her element. I don't think it would do her any harm to quietly drop the DoS title. It would be quite the feminist statement if she did, I think she would be applauded for it. Everyone knows who she married, nothing will change in that regard. She's got the high profile she needs going forward with her projects without carrying the royal baggage around.