A difficult childhood, a feud with Prince Philip, divorce, and the shame of national scandals. Sarah
Ferguson may be a duchess, but she's faced a lot of tragedy throughout her royal life.
Sarah Ferguson may have married into the royal family, but her life isn't exactly a "Cinderella"
story. From the very beginning, she was part of Britain's upper class, as Ferguson's father was
Major Ronald Ivor Ferguson, who managed the Prince of Wales' polo team, per Biography.
As a child, the future duchess attended two elite private schools, Danes Hill School in Hampshire,
followed by Hurst Lodge School. Growing up, she lived on a rural estate named Dummer Down Farm,
which apparently sits in the middle of "Jane Austen country" and consists of a staggering
800 acres, per the Express. In other words, the duchess, who is often referred to as Fergie, had
a pretty luxurious upbringing, even if it wasn't exactly up to royal standards. Nevertheless,
her father always tried to remind her of her privilege, as she recalled to the Financial Times,
"I remember my father's saying:
remember that the kitchen's more important than the dining room table."
While her childhood certainly wasn't perfect, it was very comfortable.
Despite her privileged upbringing, Sarah Ferguson's early life wasn't always easy.
When she was 13, her parents separated, and her mother swiftly eloped with a
polo player from Argentina, leaving Fergie behind in England. Suddenly,
her family seemed to split apart, and she told the Financial Times,
"I became head of the house at 13, with my sister going to live in Australia [...] Dad
was morose and lived on the horse and the polo ground, so it was just me."
In the 2011 documentary "Finding Sarah," Fergie revealed that her mother was abusive, saying,
"When she used to hit me because I didn't sit on my potty or wouldn't eat,
a little vein would come up on the centre of my head near my red hair."
According to Fergie, her mother thought it was a "sign of the devil." Then,
when her mother set off for a life in Argentina, she was left feeling "pointless," "unlovable,"
and "worthless," and her strict father was no help. According to the Duchess of York,
this childhood trauma led to a lifetime of self-doubt and low self-esteem.
"But I was brought up always to shut up and be still and never say it."
After a difficult childhood, Sarah Ferguson began to forge her own path. She landed a
job in publishing, and for a few years, she lived a pretty normal life. Then,
she suddenly found herself thrust into the public eye at the age of 26 when the
tabloids discovered she was Prince Andrew's latest girlfriend. Because of her looks and
personality, Fergie was quickly branded as a wild party girl, as she told People,
"When you have a sense of humor and you're a redhead, everyone takes you
for a big hurricane [...] But sometimes, you don't always want to be the storm."
Life as a tabloid leading lady certainly wasn't easy. Over the years, she was ridiculed as the
"Duchess of Pork" and was often made the villain of the royal family. As she explained to People,
"I had major mental health problems because of the trauma."
Sarah Ferguson officially joined the royal family in 1986 when she tied the knot with
Prince Andrew. The wedding itself was a suitably extravagant affair. Held in Westminster Abbey,
the royal wedding was televised to an estimated 500 million around the
world. After the famous kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace,
she and Andrew set off for a romantic honeymoon in the Azores Islands, per Town & Country.
However, this idyllic happily ever after didn't last long. Soon after the ceremony,
Fergie began to realize that the reality of being a princess in the royal family
wasn't exactly a fairytale. With the pressures of the vicious press on one
side and the demanding family on the other, she allegedly felt quite suffocated and trapped.
"Well, it's not a fairytale, it's real life in there."
Plus, her marriage to Prince Andrew was short-lived, lasting only six years,
and things became rocky early on. Shortly after their wedding,
Andrew was sent away by the navy, as Fergie told Harper's Bazaar,
"When Beatrice was born, Andrew got 10 days of shore leave,
and when he left and I cried, they all said: 'Grow up and get a grip.'"
The pair drifted apart, and within a few years, rumors of extramarital affairs began to swirl
around them. Things came to a head when Fergie was pictured on holiday with her financial advisor,
John Bryan. In one particularly scandalous photo, Bryan could apparently be seen sucking
on Fergie's toe, per The Washington Post. Rumors also spread that Fergie was having
an affair with an American called Steve Wyatt in the early '90s, per the Mirror.
As Fergie later told Rosie Magazine, she was spiraling out of control at the time, saying,
"I had out-of-control debts, an out-of-control lifestyle that I
couldn't keep up anymore. I'd now ruined my marriage [...] and I had a breakdown too."
The Duke and Duchess of York split in 1992 and officially divorced in 1996.
During her marriage to Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson became incredibly close to Princess
Diana. Both were around the same age and had married into the royal family. In many ways,
the pair were best friends, and Ferguson told Metro,
"She and I were the only two who really understood what it was like back in the '80s — the pressure
was ferocious and yet together, the two of us were powerful [...] Not powerful
in the sense of strength or importance, but in the love we had for each other,
and the way we helped each other cope. Nobody else is left who understands those days."
However, the press often pitted the pair against each other and rumors of
a rivalry between them quickly spread. As Fergie told People,
"Everybody wanted [to see a feud] because we
were so strong together [...] People want to break something so strong."
Eventually, it seems that the tabloid rumors drove a wedge between the friends,
which resulted in some real conflict between the pair. In fact, when Diana died in 1997,
they tragically weren't even on speaking terms.
"I loved Diana and I will always love her."
Even though the marriage between Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew failed,
she and her ex-husband have always remained close. The
pair worked together to co-parent their children, and Fergie told The Telegraph,
"We are co-parents who support each other and believe that family is everything."
In 2011, Fergie revealed to "Good Morning America" that
they were actually still cohabiting despite being separated, saying,
"We're a wonderful unit. We still live together."
"We just have a very strong belief about compromise, communication, and compassion."
In recent years, some royal experts have suggested that Fergie and Andrew might actually marry again.
However, their unique setup seems to work just fine, as Fergie told The Telegraph in 2021,
"All I can say is that we're happy with the way we are right now [...] We always say we are the most
contented divorced couple in the world. We're divorced to each other, not from each other."
Sarah Ferguson found herself embroiled in yet another scandal in 2010 when she was accused of
asking a reporter for money in exchange for access to her ex-husband. As The Guardian reported,
Fergie was caught on camera trying to bribe a reporter from News of the World, who was disguised
as a businessman. She allegedly asked for half a million pounds, and could be heard saying,
"That opens up everything you would ever wish for. I can open any door you want,
and I will for you. Look after me and he'll look after you [...] you'll get it back tenfold."
After the tape was released, Fergie apologized and said in a statement,
"I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused. It is
true that my financial situation is under stress however, that is no excuse for a
serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry that this has happened."
"Which is kind of brave to say but it's true."
After Sarah Ferguson's bribery and toe-sucking scandals, she quickly fell out of favor with
the royal family. Prince Philip reportedly found Ferguson's behavior so distasteful,
he actually refused to let her stay at Sandringham,
even when she came to visit her family at Christmas. As one source told the Express,
"She's not allowed to stay in the house. [...] To be frank, the Duke of Edinburgh doesn't like her."
The rift became more obvious in 2011 when Ferguson wasn't invited to her nephew Prince
William's wedding to Kate Middleton. Since then, Fergie's relationship with the royal
family seems to have improved, but that doesn't change the fact she was excluded for many years.
Sarah Ferguson shocked many people when she decided to stand by her ex-husband,
Prince Andrew, after he was accused of sexual assault. At the time, she told People,
"Whatever challenges he has, I will stand firm to the co-parenters that we are together. [...] I
believe that he's a kind, good man, and he's been a fabulous father to the girls."
It seems that Fergie's support of Andrew is unshakeable, and she has repeatedly gone out
of her way to speak up on his behalf. As royal commentator Penny Junor noted to The Guardian,
"She has not just stood silently by his side. She actually speaks out in favour of him."
For many fans of the duchess,
it's been hard to see her stand beside a man who faces such accusations.
One of the biggest tragedies of Sarah Ferguson's life was her constant battle with the judgmental
and cruel British press. In fact, it wasn't until she was in her 60s that she finally
came to terms with the trauma the tabloids had caused. As she explained to People,
"It's taken a great deal of work [to get over it] because I believed every
word that the front pages told me. It was self-shame. I'm stratospherically sensitive."
Finally, Fergie says she feels "free," even though she'll never fully get over
the damage to her self-esteem. As she explained to Town & Country,
"She's still with me, that person who thinks she's fat,
ugly, and disgusting, and she still has to have her hair done to talk to you, but she's now not
so vocal [...] The truth is, I am 61 years old and I'm free of the self-­sabotaging Sarah."