A royal author has claimed that Sarah Ferguson‘s own family were unsure about her motives for marrying Prince Andrew.
When Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson stepped out into the garden of Buckingham Palace to announce their engagement in 1986, the press and the public alike were already fawning over the new royal couple.
‘Their banter was a refreshing change from the usual formality of such events and the stilted engagement photocall of Charles and Diana,’ royal author Andrew Lownie writes in his unauthorised biography about the Duke of York.
‘The public loved her eye-rolling talent for silly faces, sense of humour, irreverence, unpretentious manner, ebullience and the fact that, in contrast to the Princess of Wales, she appeared not to care about her clothes.’
When asked why they had fallen in love, Andrew said he was attracted to Fergie’s ‘red hair’ while Fergie said she liked the prince’s ‘charm and good looks’.
However, according to Lownie, Fergie’s own family were unsure if she was more in love with the Duke of York or the Royal Family.
Lownie said: ‘Even Sarah’s own family were not sure about the relationship. With characteristic candour, her father stated: “She’s either in love with Andrew or in love with the Royal Family and I think it’s the latter”.’
This unease about the relationship was also present among the Royals.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson upon the announcement of their engagement in March 1986
The Duke and Duchess of York on their wedding day. The couple married just over a year after they first met
‘There were mixed feelings in the Royal Family. They had known Ferguson all her life as she was part of royal circles and shared their interests in outdoor pursuits, in dogs, horses, even charades,’ Lownie wrote.
‘Compared to Diana, she was easy-going and clearly made Andrew happy, but according to a well-connected source: Fergie couldn’t stop talking, and inappropriately.
‘She was all high-jinks and jolly-hockey sticks and practical jokes. Andy loved it, no one else did. I was told that the Queen said to someone after Fergie had left the Presence, “Does that girl never stop talking!”… The Duke of Edinburgh just thought she was a girl on the make.’
He added: ‘There were also concerns that there might be scandals in her private life. A Palace source confided in journalist Stuart White that the worry was “Fergie had put it about a little, and was a “game girl”. That phrase was used to me and didn’t have anything to do with liking grouse moors”.’
Even Fergie was allegedly alarmed by the speed of the relationship. The couple had only met for the first time at Ascot in June 1985 and less than a year later they were engaged to be married.
One friend told Lownie: ‘While she was enormously happy, she was petrified about what she was letting herself in for.’
Andrew on the other hand was very eager for the married to go ahead.
Lownie said: ‘Feeling under pressure from his family to settle down, on the rebound from various failed relationships, driven by a strong physical attraction to Ferguson and loneliness, he felt this was an opportunity he should not lose.’
Fergie with her father Ronald Ferguson. According to royal author Andrew Lownie, Ronald wasn’t sure if his daughter was in love with Andrew or in love with the Royal Family
The Duke and Duchess of York with the late Queen in May 1986. The Royal Family reportedly had ‘mixed feelings’ about Andrew and Fergie’s relationship
He added that one of the Duke of York’s friends claimed that Andrew described himself as a ‘loner’ and confided that he’d ‘really like to be married’.
This isn’t to say that sparks didn’t fly between the future Duke and Duchess of York upon their first meeting and both were ready to settle down, according to Lownie.
Lownie wrote: ‘Diana suggested Sarah be invited to join the royal house party for Ascot that June. Whether by luck or by design, Andrew, on leave from his duties with Brazen’s Lynx, was seated beside her.
‘She [Fergie] was on one of her periodic diets and he goaded her to finish her chocolate profiteroles and he would do the same. He then went back on his word and she playfully whacked him. When they discovered they had the same childish sense of humour, their mutual attraction increased.’
The Duke and Duchess of York faced a turbulent marriage which culminated in their separation in 1992 followed by a divorce in 1996.
But the most cringeworthy moment of their relationship was when the Duchess of York – just months after her separation – was photographed in the newspapers in a very compromising position.
Lying on a sunbed in St Tropez, Texan millionaire John Bryan was pictured kissing and sucking Fergie’s toes.
The intimate images remain some of the most embarrassing pictures of a royal ever made public and, for Fergie, the consequences were severe.
Andrew Lownie (pictured) explores the Duke and Duchess of York’s marriage in his new unauthorised biography about Prince Andrew – Entitled
Fergie wipes a tear in her first public appearance since compromising photos were published in the press
Writing in his biography, titled The Royal Insider, Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell revealed that the late Duke of Edinburgh ‘banned’ Fergie from all the royal residences.
Burrell claims, against his father’s wishes the Duke of York decided to bring Fergie along with their daughters to Balmoral for a weekend.
‘Fergie was banned from all royal residences on the order of Prince Philip. On one occasion, Prince Andrew persuaded his mother to let Fergie stay for a weekend at Balmoral towards the end of Prince Philip’s life,’ he wrote.
‘Prince Philip was recuperating from a illness and convalescing at Wood Farm at Sandringham and had no idea of Andrew’s plotting with his mother.’
Andrew allegedly told his mother: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice, Mummy, if Sarah and the girls could come and spend a weekend at Balmoral? They would love it. And you would love to see your grandchildren.’
Burrell said: ‘So the Queen agreed without Prince Philip’s knowledge.’
‘Prince Philip got wind of it at Sandringham the next day and phoned the Queen immediately.’
‘I’m coming to Balmoral tomorrow and she had better be gone,’ Philip allegedly warned.
Burrell wrote: ‘What would the Queen do? She had to explain carefully to Andrew that Fergie was not able to stay in the house under the same roof as Prince Philip. So Andrew had to tell his ex-wife that she had to go.
‘She didn’t cause a fuss but simply packed all her bags and left before Prince Philip arrived so as to avoid a royal contretemps.’