Ferguson

I’m not surprised that Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson seem willing to move into separate homes. After their divorce, they continued to reside in the same home(s) off-and-on for decades. Sarah moved into Royal Lodge a few years after Andrew took on the lease, and they reportedly live in separate wings of the mansion, but maintain some kind of close relationship/friendship. But it’s a lot, and I can totally see why Fergie and Andrew are currently negotiating separate residences for themselves. Reportedly, Andrew now wants Frogmore Cottage, while Fergie wants to move into Adelaide Cottage, both homes on the Windsor estate and both homes in the “ring of steel” security perimeter around the castle. Well, now Becky English at the Daily Mail has a sympathetic story about how Fergie is begging for mercy from King Charles:

Sarah Ferguson ‘has nowhere to go – or anyone else to go with’, friends said last night as negotiations rumble on over her and Prince Andrew’s future. The former Duchess of York is said to be ‘on the edge’ as it is claimed she and her ex-husband have demanded royal officials provide two homes at Windsor – one for each of them – if they are to move out of Royal Lodge, the mansion they have shared since 2008.

In the latest twist to the saga it has been suggested that they may finally go their separate ways – with Andrew taking Harry and Meghan’s old home Frogmore Cottage, while his ex-wife is demanding Adelaide Cottage, currently being vacated by the Prince and Princess of Wales. Sources close to the couple, who have been divorced for almost 20 years, have reacted angrily, however, to such a suggestion, insisting the offer is ‘misrepresentative of the truth’ and it has, in fact, ‘been on the table for months’.

‘It was an option put forward by the “other side” and at an early stage [in negotiations],’ they claimed. ‘Whether it is still on the table, I don’t know. But the suggestion that they have been demanding a new home each is misrepresentative of the truth. No demands have been made. People have been trying to come up with solutions.’

While Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the claims, insiders say they simply ‘do not recognise’ this version of events, however.

Now it has been claimed that Andrew and his ex-wife may finally be willing to go their separate ways, albeit in houses barely a few miles’ drive from each other. That has sparked surprise among some in royal circles who point out that the King has no legal responsibility whatsoever towards Sarah, who has, in effect, been a ‘lodger’ at her former husband’s home for almost two decades. Others, however, point out that the monarch may consider it prudent to keep Sarah ‘in the fold’, rather than her consider another tell-all book. She has already brought out a memoir in 1996, the year she divorced Andrew, and then an autobiography in 2011.

The King has also treated his former sister-in-law kindly in recent years given her personal battles after being diagnosed with both breast and skin cancers. Sources with knowledge of Sarah’s situation have described her as ‘absolutely bereft’ and ‘completely on the edge’. She is said to be hugely ’embarrassed’ by the scandal which has also come home to roost for her personally after the publication of a ‘cringeworthy’ email she wrote to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, apologising profusely for disassociating herself from him publicly following his child sex conviction in 2008.

‘She is contrite and embarrassed but also fears the scandal has fatally damaged her own business interests, including a number of new fictional books that are due to come out,’ a source said. ‘People don’t want to be associated with her any more.’ The friend added: ‘The honest truth is that she has nowhere to go and no one to go with [if Andrew loses Royal Lodge]. Her future is hanging in the balance.’ Another source added: ‘The King is a kind man but his patience has been pushed to the limit. However, the last thing he also wants is another “Spare” [the vitriolic memoir brought out by his own son, Prince Harry, in 2023].’

Five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage, although ‘lovely’, according to one who has visited it, will be considered a step down by Andrew from Royal Lodge, which has been described as ‘terribly grand’.

[From The Daily Mail]

This reads like… Buckingham Palace has completely bungled these negotiations and misread the situation at every level. It was clear that BP leaked the story about Andrew and Fergie “demanding” two homes, but I actually believe English’s York-sources who insist that these weren’t Andrew and Fergie’s demands, that they were actually offered these two homes at some point. I also think Fergie just expected to move in with Andrew again, wherever he lands next – if they ended up in Frogmore, she would have expected to take up a room there too. Which is weird, right? Fergie’s Calamity Jane act is typical – she has absolutely no backup plan, and she’s earned and lost a dozen fortunes already. She should have plenty of money to set herself up in a nice home away from all of this, but apparently she does not. She literally just sold a Belgravia townhouse at a loss – where is that money?

I also wonder why everyone involved is so insistent on “Andrew and Fergie must stay in Windsor.” Apparently, that’s what Andrew wants, but it’s such a dumb idea. It would be so much easier to hide Fergie and Andrew away in Sandringham, and there would be less outcry because Sandringham isn’t operated by the Crown Estates.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of The Sun.