Sarah Ferguson has survived many storms during her four decades in the spotlight, but her latest scandal has left her booted out of her home with little to fall back on, according to experts
Sarah Ferguson’s down-to-earth charm saw her win the hearts of the nation, but behind closed doors, it appears her spending was anything but.
Dubbed ‘Fabulous Fergie’ in the papers as royal watchers screamed her name outside Clarence House on the night before her royal wedding, Sarah declared she was the “luckiest girl in the world” to be marrying a “handsome” prince. But now, as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor loses his royal titles and faces exiled in the shadows, Sarah finds herself without a home, worlds away from the lavish lifestyle she clung onto for decades.
King Charles delivered the final blow to his younger brother and booted him out of Royal Lodge, the crumbling 30-room mansion the former couple have lived together in since 2008. Andrew lost his royal honours last week, confirmed in a blistering statement by the Palace – who made clear that Charles and Queen Camilla stand by victims and survivors of abuse in all forms. Virginia Guiffre, a Jeffrey Epstein victim who died by suicide earlier this year, accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her three times when she was a teenager, claims he vehemently denies.
While Andrew is expected to move into a property on the sprawling Sandringham estate, Fergie has reportedly been told by the Palace to find her own living arrangements, cutting her out from the royal fold completely. Her ex-husband will apparently receive a six-figure pay-out for moving out of the Lodge, but Fergie, who famously found herself in excessive debt for years, has no such safety net to fall back on.
The ex duchess has long admitted she is “terrible with money” and has faced bankrupcy in the past. With her net worth reportedly only coming in at £745,000, she seemingly wouldn’t even be able to afford a terrace property in the town she’s called home for decades – Windsor. A quick search on Rightmove pings up terrace houses going for anywhere between £795,000 to £1.87 million.
Sarah has clawed herself back from financial struggles in in a number of ways, from starring in Weight Watchers advertising campaigns and flogging products on QVC to appearing on Loose Women and even writing saucy novels. But her wild spending habits and apparent love for excess are at odds with the current predicament she finds herself in, shut out from the pomp and paegentry of the palace.
Fergie was said to have bailed out by the late Queen on “several occasions” after running up staggering debts. According to Andrew Lownie’s new biography, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, this included a payment of £500,000 in April 1994 when the bank Coutts “demanded £500,000 within 14 days”. But how did somebody born to such wealth and privilege end up in such financial peril?
Lownie, who spent four years researching Sarah and Andrew for his book, claims the ex duchess spent wildly during her marriage, splurging on staff, holidays, parties and flowers, in what he has described as a life of “opulent excess”. Worst of all, he claims no thought was given as to how bills would be settled.
Lownie detailed excesses such as paying £65,000 to have a personal trainer on permanent standby despite using their services on just two occasions in one year. Meanwhile, the big spender also allegedly ran up a bill of £51,000 at the luxury department store Selfridges, where she would make purchases through the firm’s personal shopper and her old school pal, Pandora Delevigne.
The Christmas before, two Selfridges staff members reportedly spent almost a full day in the VIP section, selecting hundreds of pricey items ahead of a decadent festive party. One source recalled: “Someone was dispatched every three or four days to pick up tights, face creams and expensive hair products”. Sarah also once spent £14,000 in a month at a London wine merchant, according to the book.
Naturally, Fergie’s lavish spending caught up with her. After a bill of £500 went unpaid, a newsagent reportedly refused to supply the Duchess, while a local butcher, dry cleaning company and car hire firm are also listed among her creditors.
Even the BP card used at petrol stations was allegedly confiscated due to unpaid arrears. Fergie amassed a £6,500 bill through using Queen Elizabeth’s special mail service on “an almost daily basis”. As well as mailing out letters and photographs, the Duchess would also send out opulent gifts, including silver letter openers, cufflinks and money clips.
When it came to property, Fergie also made some unwise decisions, according to Lownie. Back in May 2009, the mother of two apparently signed a year’s lease on a £3million mansion on Surrey’s swish Wentworth Estate, at £8,000 per month.
However, after the owners chose to move back in sooner than anticipated, while holding her to a six-month payment, the Duchess reportedly decided not to move in after all, setting up home at Windsor’s Royal Lodge with ex-husband Prince Andrew instead. The result was, as Lownie put it, “£50,000 on a house she never lived in”.
A former staff member told Lownie that “greed and wastefulness that contributed to the duchess’s financial downfall”, claiming: “Every night she demands a whole side of beef, a leg of lamb and a chicken, which are laid out on the dining room table like a medieval banquet. It’s a feast that would make Henry VIII proud.”
