Sarah Ferguson loses duchess title and home as Prince Andrew is stripped of royal privileges
Daughters Beatrice and Eugenie will retain princess titles and late Queen’s corgis will remain with family
Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of King Charles III’s younger brother Andrew, has shared living quarters with her ex-husband for years. Now, she will share the loss of their titles and their home.
The former Duchess of York, known as Fergie, reinvented herself as a media personality and author after her divorce from Andrew in 1996, working her way back into the royal family’s favour after a period of isolation.
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She also remained remarkably close to Andrew, calling them the “best divorced couple in the world”, living with him in his sprawling Windsor estate mansion, and vowing to stand by the scandal-hit prince through thick and thin.
She lost her status as duchess earlier in October when Andrew agreed to give up his Duke of York title as details about his ties with the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein re-emerged.
But King Charles’s ultimate decision on Thursday to remove all of Andrew’s titles and oust him from his 30-room Royal Lodge residence, following mounting anger over his alleged sexual abuses, could be the final blow for Ferguson’s reputation as well.
She played her part in the downfall.
In the weeks leading up to the king’s decision, a 2011 email emerged between her and Epstein, in which she called him a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend” — three years after he was convicted for soliciting underage girls.
Ferguson with her oldest daughter, Beatrice, who retains her title as princess, pictured in 2012. (Paul Morigi/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP) Photo by Paul Morigi /GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Several UK charities announced they were cutting ties with Ferguson, 66, as a result of the email. She has previously said she “never had anything to do with” Epstein and called a £15,000 (US$20,000) loan the billionaire had made to her a “gigantic error”.
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While Andrew is set to move into a private house in the king’s rural Sandringham estate, Ferguson will have to make her own arrangements.
According to The Times newspaper, Andrew “finally” agreed to leave Royal Lodge when it became clear that Ferguson was going to move out.
Ferguson, who was given a financial settlement as part of her divorce, has been candid about struggling with her finances.
She said Epstein’s loan was intended to help pay off her debts. In 2010, she was filmed offering access to Andrew in exchange for money.
Their daughters Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35 — neither of whom are working royals — look like they could be shielded from the worst of the fallout.
Both will retain their titles as princesses, Buckingham Palace confirmed.
According to Andrew’s biographer, Andrew Lownie, the status of his daughters was likely used to pressure the former prince to agree to Charles’s terms.
“They (the royals) are probably now saying: if you want them to have a future in the royal family and be princesses, then you kind of got to make some concessions,” Lownie told AFP.
