{"id":50994,"date":"2026-04-18T07:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T07:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/50994\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T07:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T07:46:09","slug":"fergies-new-life-in-2000-a-night-austrian-ski-chalet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/50994\/","title":{"rendered":"Fergie\u2019s new life in \u2018\u00a32,000-a-night\u2019 Austrian ski chalet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarah Ferguson<\/a> has been spotted at a ski resort in Austria, as pressure mounts on the former Duchess of York to explain the full extent of her ties to Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her stay at a luxurious retreat in Europe creates a major optics problem, according to royal commentators, who said it feeds into the idea of \u201centitlement\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ferguson may move elsewhere with the help of super-rich benefactors<\/a>, they added \u2013 but she will have to \u201cstop wandering\u201d and answer questions about Epstein at some stage.<\/p>\n

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n

The ex-duchess has been staying at a \u201cluxury Alpine ski resort\u201d, according to The Sun, which published photos of Ferguson outside the lodge in an unnamed Austrian village.<\/p>\n

While most Austrian resort villages will be fairly expensive, the report claims that Ferguson was staying at a top-tier chalet worth \u00a32,000-a-night.<\/p>\n

Ferguson\u2019s \u2018sofa surfing\u2019 tour in recent months<\/p>\n

She has been largely ostracised from British high society after the extent of her connection to Epstein emerged in emails released by the US Department of Justice<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n

The ex-royal has been urged by Democrat Suhas Subramanyam to provide information on her \u201cclose personal and business ties\u201d to a US Congress committee investigating the late paedophile.<\/p>\n

Emails show Ferguson calling Epstein her \u201csupreme friend<\/a>\u201d and contacting him while he was in jail for soliciting prostitution from a minor. They also reveal how she pleaded with the financier for his help in paying off her \u00a36m debts.<\/p>\n

Ferguson apologised in a 2011 interview after it emerged that she had accepted \u00a315,000 from Epstein, saying she \u201cdeeply\u201d regretted the connection. She later\u00a0apologised to her \u201cdear friend\u201d Epstein in an email<\/a> for publicly disowning him.<\/p>\n

The former royal, who lost her titles last year, has not been seen in public since her granddaughter\u2019s christening at St James\u2019s Palace in December.<\/p>\n

Reports suggest that she has been \u201csofa surfing\u201d around the world in recent months, including stays in Dubai, the US and Ireland. It was reported that she may be using \u201cburner\u201d phones to help keep her location a secret.<\/p>\n

Friends and commentators had speculated that she could be<\/a> at a skiing resort such as Verbier in Switzerland. <\/p>\n

They suggested Fergie had wealthy friends who would stick by her<\/a>. Ingrid Seward, the royal biographer, previously said: \u201cShe has far-flung friends. And those people would love to hide Fergie, as for them it would be a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VERBIER,Skiing appears to be a favourite pastime for Ferguson, pictured with Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie in 2004 (Photo: Tim Graham\/Getty)<\/p>\n

\u2018At some stage she will have to stop wandering\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a good look to be in Austria, when there are questions [about her ties to Epstein],\u201d said Robert Jobson, author of The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty of Secrets, Scandal and Survival.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe may just want to be left alone. She may want to keep schtum and keep her head down.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she wants to have some form of public profile, she probably has to give evidence and tell the truth, possibly to Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The royal correspondent said it was not clear how long she could keep moving around.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends how much money she has and how many friends she has got prepared to fund such an existence,\u201d he said. \u201cAt some stage, she will have to stop wandering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lauren Beeching, a crisis communications specialist, said the sighting in Austria was \u201cabsolutely a PR problem\u201d for Ferguson, since it would cement the idea of \u201centitlement\u201d.<\/p>\n

The public were now seeing Ferguson \u201ctucked away in a \u00a32,000-a-night chalet in the Alps \u2013 not someone preparing to face what\u2019s in front of them\u201d.<\/p>\n

Given calls for Ferguson to testify over Epstein, some people may perceive the ex-duchess to be \u201cliving it up while refusing to engage with something very serious\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether that\u2019s a fair reading or not, it\u2019s the one that sticks,\u201d Beeching added. \u201cAnd once it sticks, that\u2019s the version you have to work with. That\u2019s very hard to walk back from.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SarahFerguson is under pressure over her links to Jeffrey Epstein (Photo: Andreas Solaro\/AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

\u2018She has no reputation now \u2013 she is in a mess\u2019<\/p>\n

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said Ferguson had \u201cpicked up quite a few wealthy friends\u201d who could be supporting her stay in Austria. \u201cShe may be able to afford to stay at a resort herself. We just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferguson could remain abroad if she sees no way of restoring her image in Britain, said Fitzwilliams. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s inevitable she returns to the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it could be difficult to rely on rich friends abroad indefinitely, he added, since her social circle had been greatly diminished by the Epstein email revelations.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe appealed to some people because she could do something outrageous and then bounce back,\u201d said Fitzwilliams.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people found it amusing or captivating or that she was feisty. But she has no reputation now. She is in a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferguson had spent several years living at the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor with her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor<\/a>. But she did not move with him to a much smaller property at Sandringham in February.<\/p>\n

Multiple charities have dropped Ferguson as a patron. Her companies have been wound down. Her latest children\u2019s book has been pulled by New Frontier Publishing.<\/p>\n

Ferguson\u2019s representative was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said last year that the former duchess had made clear \u201cher regret about her association with Epstein many years ago\u201d and that \u201cher first thoughts are with his victims\u201d. They added: \u201cLike many people, she was taken in by his lies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sarah Ferguson has been spotted at a ski resort in Austria, as pressure mounts on the former Duchess…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[50,10257,1092,10256,10255],"class_list":{"0":"post-50994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alps","8":"tag-alps","9":"tag-andrew-mountbatten-windsor","10":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","11":"tag-royal-family","12":"tag-sarah-ferguson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116424604569924203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}