Most royals make it a point to be dull — and then there's Sarah Ferguson. From Botox fillings and
wild bachelorette parties, to her unlikely friendship with the daughter of a rock icon,
Fergie certainly knows how to keep things interesting.
On July 23, 1986, Sarah Ferguson tied the knot with Prince Andrew. Her wedding came five years
after Princess Diana married then-Prince Charles in a televised ceremony watched by
millions. As a result, the two women found themselves grappling with becoming members
of the royal family at similar times, which led to them spending a lot of time together.
During an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Ferguson revealed that Princess
Diana even attended her bachelorette party ahead of her wedding to Andrew.
She also said that the pair got into a lot of trouble together. For starters,
they were dressed up as police officers for the raucous party. She told Clarkson:
"And the waiter came up to us and said, 'Excuse me,
this is a members club. And it's for fun, and we don't serve police officers here.'"
The night got even worse after the pair were thrown out of the nightclub. Moreover,
they were reportedly arrested for impersonating actual police officers. Once in the police van,
Fergie claimed that Diana got them into even more trouble
when she started eating potato chips she found in the vehicle. Fergie explained:
She just looked around and saw a smokey bacon-flavored crisp and started taking
them and eating them. And the policeman in the front said, 'You can't do that!'"
Sarah Ferguson married Prince Andrew in a fairytale ceremony at Westminster Abbey in
London. However, the future Duchess of York apparently couldn't believe
that she was marrying a prince, or that Andrew would choose her over
his many other suitors. In her 1996 book, "My Story," Fergie explained,
"Why did Prince Andrew marry me, he could have married a lovely model, he had hundreds of
models chasing him, but he married funny old me and that's because it was meant to be."
Any initial insecurity seemingly floated away once
the couple got closer to the altar, with Ferguson writing in her book,
"All I knew is that I would go anywhere for love. I do believe in romance and that wonderful moment
where you fall in love and you are just so with your man that you are like under the skin."
After welcoming their two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, the Duke and
Duchess of York announced their separation in March 1992. Their divorce was finalized in May
1996, but the pair have remained close ever since. In fact, the Yorks still live together at Royal
Lodge in Windsor, and their relationship appears to be perfectly amicable. In 2021, Ferguson even
dispelled rumors that she might be about to remarry her ex-husband, telling The Telegraph,
"All I can say is that we're happy with the way we are right now."
When Sarah Ferguson became a member of the royal family, she wasn't welcomed into the
famous brood by every member. Instead, Ferguson was apparently disliked by Andrew's father,
the late Prince Philip. In "The Final Portrait," Philip's official biographer, Gyles Brandreth,
appeared to confirm the rumor that Philip's disdain stemmed from a 1992 incident where
Sarah was photographed having her toes sucked by another man. According to Brandreth's book,
Philip felt that the incident brought shame upon the family.
An undercover investigation by the News of the World in 2010 only worsened matters,
after Fergie was caught on camera accepting an initial payment of
$40,000 in exchange for access to Prince Andrew.
In 2018, Ferguson scored an invitation to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding,
but not everyone in the family was pleased with her attendance. Royal
author Christopher Andersen told the Daily Beast of the invite:
"Prince Philip, who has always detested the Duchess of York,
may never be in a forgiving mood."
During a March 2023 appearance on the "Life's a
Beach" podcast, Ferguson acknowledged how intimidating Philip could be, claiming,
"You had to be on your best. If you asked a silly comment, you were certainly told
it was a silly comment ... Terrifying!" Prince Andrew's misguided friendship with the late
convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has made the royal the subject of some damning reports.
"But you were staying at the house of a convicted sex offender."
"It was a convenient place to stay."
In August 2021, Andrew was forced to take a step back from his public duties as a member of the
royal family, and stripped of the military titles he once held. One of Epstein's alleged victims,
Virginia Giuffre, even brought a civil lawsuit again the prince,
alleging that he perpetrated sexual assault against her.
Andrew settled the lawsuit in 2022, reportedly paying out £12 million, which equates to
approximately $14.8 million. While Prince Andrew's connection to Epstein has been explored at length,
it's also been alleged that Sarah Ferguson once accepted money from the convicted pedophile.
In 2011, The Telegraph reported that Ferguson had accepted
£15,000 from Epstein, which was paid to her personal assistant and orchestrated by her
ex-husband. Responding to the shocking revelation, Fergie told The Telegraph,
"I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein
became involved in any way with me. I abhor pedophilia and any sexual
abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf."
The Duchess of York also promised to repay the money as soon as she could and confirmed that
she wouldn't be associating with Epstein anymore. In August 2019, the disgraced
financier was found dead in his prison cell. It was determined that he died by suicide.
As two women marrying princes in the British royal family just years apart, Princess Diana
and Sarah Ferguson had a special bond. However, their friendship wasn't always smooth sailing,
and Ferguson was estranged from Diana at the time of her death in August 1997. In
a 2007 interview with Harper's Bazaar, Ferguson opened up about the rift between them, saying,
"But because we were like siblings [...] we [fought a lot]. And the saddest thing,
at the end, we hadn't spoken for a year, though I never knew the reason."
Tragically, the two duchesses weren't on speaking terms when Diana passed away,
but Ferguson had been attempting to mend the relationship. She told Harper's Bazaar:
"I tried, wrote letters, thinking whatever happened didn't matter,
let's sort it out. And I knew she'd come back. In fact, the day before she died she
rang a friend of mine and said, 'Where's that Red? I want to talk to her.'"
Sadly, that conversation never happened. However, it's clear that there was a lot
of love between the late Princess of Wales and the Duchess of York,
even if their friendship was going through a rough patch.
Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022, following a reign lasting seven decades.
During an appearance on "Good Morning America" in March 2023, Sarah Ferguson
opened up about what her life was like since Queen Elizabeth II's death. She explained:
"I feel liberated."
She then went on to add:
"I don't know whether it's the queen passing on
that I now think I can just sort of say openly what I want to say without
worrying I'm going to offend somebody. I'm really truly authentic Sarah now."
In the aftermath, it was also announced that Prince Andrew and Ferguson would be caring for
the late monarch's beloved corgis, Muick and Sandy. Meanwhile, a source told The Telegraph
that Ferguson and the queen had remained close even after the Duke and Duchess of York divorced,
having forged a wonderful bond due to their mutual love of dog walking and horse riding.
The world was shocked when news broke that Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley,
had died at the age of 54 in January of 2023. Lisa Marie's family and friends
made passionate tributes about the singer following her sudden and unexpected death.
Sarah Ferguson took to Twitter to share her grief, having lost someone she considered
to be a close friend. Sharing a photo taken with Lisa Marie, Ferguson wrote,
"I say hello to you every day and I love you my sissy and I will continue
to say hello to you every day. You were my sissy."
Ferguson reportedly met Lisa Marie in 2009 when she attended the duchess'
50th birthday party. The Duchess of York even spoke at Lisa Marie's funeral at the
Graceland residence. Ferguson paid tribute to her friend by saying,
"We need to stoke our flames within to celebrate extraordinary Lisa Marie. I stand here with great
honor because we called each other Sissy ... I've been here with you all for all
your lives and I stand here with great honor. So, Sissy, this is for you with affection."
Just like many of her peers, Sarah Ferguson has considered plastic surgery, and she
isn't afraid to talk about it. During a 2023 interview with The Independent, she explained,
"My mother never did do anything before she died. And she was a very handsome woman. And
I have got to 63 and four people have come up to me and said, 'It's time for a facelift.'"
In 2019, Ferguson spoke to the Daily Mail about some of the
procedures she had done ahead of her daughter Princess Eugenie's wedding,
which took place in October 2018. Ferguson said of her appearance at the nuptials:
"Above all, it was being joyful for Eugenie that made me look good. But I'd had some laser
treatment on my face which helped, too. [...] I'm really happy to be open about what I've had done."
While speaking to the Daily Mail, the Duchess of York also revealed that she'd tried Botox in
the past, but that she wasn't always a fan of the results. She told the publication:
"I really don't like the frozen look." Alongside her valuable endorsement deals,
Sarah Ferguson has built a new career for herself as an author. She started her writing career as
a children's author in 1989 with "Budgie the Little Helicopter." The book was soon turned
into a popular animated TV series. She has since released many more books, including
everything from her autobiography "Finding Sarah" to the "Little Red" children's series.
In recent years, Fergie's success as a writer has only continued to blossom. For instance,
in May 2022, she signed an incredible 22-book deal with the Australia-based Serenity Press
to write a series aimed at young adults. In a statement to People, Ferguson said of the deal,
"Young adults are perhaps the fastest-growing category of new fiction today. There's just
something about adolescence ... that makes it the perfect backdrop for powerful storytelling."
During a separate 2023 interview with People,
Ferguson elaborated on her passion for writing thoughtful books for young people, saying,
"I think that grief and loss and pain are issues that we really need to address very early on,
and that's why I do all my children's books, of which I've written 48."
Meanwhile, Fergie's historical romance novel "A Most Intriguing Lady" was released in March 2023,
and proved that the duchess is adept at writing for all audiences.
While it might be hard to imagine a member of the royal family curling up
to watch a romantic film on Hallmark, that's exactly what Sarah Ferguson
likes to do in her spare time. During an interview with People, Ferguson revealed,
"I'm heavily into romance, and I love historical romance. I cry at Hallmark, you know? Just
mentioning Hallmark, I could cry. I love romance, and I love the beauty of love and joy and magic."
Ferguson elaborated on her love of Hallmark
movies during an interview with Hello! in March 2023, saying,
"My dream is to be in a cameo role in a Hallmark movie. I want
to go and make gingerbread in a Christmas movie!"