Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson spent ten years married as the royal family's odd couple.
While things didn't work out the first time, they may be gearing up to give their marriage
another shot.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were married from 1986 to 1996.
Though they're said to have known each other as children, they didn't become romantically
involved until being reacquainted at the 1985 Royal Ascot.
At the time of their marriage, Prince Andrew enjoyed a career in the British Navy.
Owing in part to his royal duties, Andrew ended up spending very little time with his
wife.
In fact, Sarah Ferguson later admitted to Harper's Bazaar that the two only spent 40
days together each year in the first five years of their marriage, a reality that she
said was difficult for her to process and accept.
Sarah also told the publication that when she and Andrew married, she had only one request
that he was never able to fulfill.
As she explained,
"I married my boy, who happened to be a prince and a sailor, because I loved him—and still
do—my only condition being, 'I have to be with you.'"
Only two weeks after the wedding, however, the royal family sent Andrew back out to sea.
While neither Andrew nor Sarah have commented in great detail about the circumstances that
led to their separation and divorce, others have inferred that the many weeks and months
they spent apart led Sarah to grow bored with the relationship.
The year the two legally split up, royal author Sarah Bradford wrote that Sarah Ferguson had
often been put off by the way Andrew conducted himself when they were together, with the
writer asserting that she found his behavior, quote, "embarrassingly boorish."
Prince Andrew's constant absence did more than just strain his relationship with his
new wife; it also led him to miss much of Sarah's first pregnancy with Princess Beatrice.
Sarah later said that the royal family she had married into was less than understanding
when she got upset about her husband spending so much time away.
Speaking to Harper's Bazaar in 2018, she explained that, after Beatrice's birth,
"Andrew got 10 days of shore leave, and when he left and I cried, they all said: 'Grow
up and get a grip.'"
Sarah, however, went on to encourage other royal brides to stick by their husbands through
thick and thin, despite the unusual difficulties that royal life presents.
As she put it,
"Stay with your man; don't let him be taken from you."
"You married your man.
You fell in love, and you married the man.
And then you've got to come to terms with the fairy tale.
Now, it's not a fairy tale.
It's real life in there – well, so to speak."
While it's impossible to know what their marriage might have been like if Andrew had been home
more, especially during Sarah's pregnancy with Beatrice, it certainly seems that Sarah
herself believes it could have ended very differently.
Things between Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson officially began to sour in 1992 when the
pair announced their separation.
That August, Sarah had been photographed on vacation with a man named John Bryan.
Up to that point, Sarah had insisted that Bryan was little more than a "financial adviser"
to the Duchess of York, but photographs captured by the paparazzi revealed that the two enjoyed
quite an intimate relationship.
In the photos, Bryan is seen kissing Sarah's toes.
Sarah found herself in the humiliating position of being at the royal residence of Balmoral
along with the rest of the royal family as the story broke.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were reportedly mortified by the news.
The Daily Mail later wrote that Philip, in particular, did not want to even be in the
same room as Sarah and insisted she "brought shame" to the entire family.
Rumors of animosity between Sarah and Philip persisted for years.
In April 1996, the Chicago Tribune reported that their divorce was expected to be finalized
the following month.
Sarah would be allowed to use her Duchess of York title but was stripped of all other
royal affiliations.
The pair's lawyer explained that both parties could continue to be responsible for their
children, then ages 7 and 6, writing in a formal statement,
"The children will continue to live with the duchess, and both parents will participate
fully in their upbringing."
Even though she had her complaints about her marriage, especially regarding her husband's
extensive time away from home, Sarah Ferguson has admitted she felt forced into agreeing
to divorce Prince Andrew in 1996.
The dissolution of the marriage, she said, largely revolved around practical matters,
rather than irreconcilable differences between herself and Andrew.
For starters, Sarah was interested in pursuing employment, which was something she couldn't
do as a member of the royal family.
As she told Harper's Bazaar, though she and Andrew were separated, it didn't have to mean
divorce was inevitable.
Yet, Sarah's yearning to work outside the family was something royals are not allowed
to do.
She explained,
"I wanted to work; it's not right for a princess of the royal house to be commercial, so Andrew
and I decided to make the divorce official so I could go off and get a job."
Sarah also shared with the magazine that when it was time to strike a divorce settlement
with Queen Elizabeth, she surprised the monarch by telling her that she only wanted friendship
with the queen and nothing else.
She said she knew doing so would require her to work but that she was playing a longer
game, adding,
"I wanted to be able to say, 'Her Majesty is my friend'— not fight her nor have lawyers
saying, 'Look, she is greedy.'
I left my marriage knowing I'd have to work.
I have."
In the years that have elapsed between the time Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson divorced,
rumors surfaced that one or both parties are interested in remarrying one another.
Friends of the couple told Vanity Fair that the pair lived together in 2020 as a result
of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and that things between the two seem as good, or even
better, than they ever have before.
One source said,
"It has rekindled something and I can see a second wedding happening if it all goes
Andrew's way."
One factor that may play into their future is Andrew's legal entanglement regarding some
salacious accusations.
The Prince has been accused of participating in sexual activities with a minor trafficked
for sex by his late friend, disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein, an accusation he
has categorically denied.
Sarah has previously spoken up for Andrew amid the accusations.
"Knowing him as I know him, he's one of the greatest men I've ever met in my life, and
my best friend, and a great father to my children."
For her part, Sarah has admitted that she and Andrew are both still in love with one
another.
She told the Daily Mail,
"We both say it.
We are completely compatible.
Our bywords are communication, compromise and compassion."
Sarah also added that her wedding day was "the happiest day of [her] life."
"Oh, it was the best day of my life, apart from having my girls."
But when asked if she would remarry Andrew, Sarah played coy, insisting the two are content
with the life they have together now.
As she explained to the Daily Mail,
"We enjoy each other's company; we allow each other to blossom.
I know it sounds like a fairy tale but that's the way we are."
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