THE UNFERGIVEN
She may enjoy summers at Balmoral and a ‘reunion’ with Prince Andrew but poor Sarah Ferguson is still not welcomed by the Royal Family
GRINNING like the Cheshire Cat, Sarah Ferguson stands next to Prince Philip in her daughter’s official wedding photograph.
And why wouldn’t the Duchess of York be smiling?
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That one symbolic picture put Fergie exactly where she always wanted to be — back in the bosom of the Royal Family.
Unfortunately, the fiery redhead seems incapable of staying there.
Three days after Princess Eugenie’s big day, 59-year-old Fergie was already fanning the flames of a feud.
On Monday, instead of congratulating Prince Harry and Meghan on their baby news, she went on a self-indulgent Twitter spree.
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Hilarious moment Robbie Williams' daughter Teddy asks Sarah Ferguson if she's The Queen... and Fergie's response is absolutely priceless
She sent a flurry of tweets harking back to Friday’s wedding, saying how “proud” she was of Eugenie and new son-in-law Jack Brooksbank.
One post, uploaded at the exact same time of the pregnancy announcement, was a selfie thanking Emanuel Ungaro, who designed her “amazing dress”.
The bizarre timing sent the rumour mill into overdrive.
Was it sour grapes over Harry and Meghan stealing her thunder? And had she already blown what little good favour she had gained from the wedding?
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It was not so much what she said as what she did not say. Fergie has STILL not mentioned the pregnancy in her tweets.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams tells The Sun: “By failing to acknowledge Harry and Meghan’s happy news she’s given credence to the rumours of a royal rift.
“When you don’t congratulate them of course it’s going to draw attention. It’s tactless. But unfortunately, the Duchess of York has always had a lack of tact.”
It could be quite a setback for Fergie, who has done her best to ingratiate herself with The Firm.
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She joined the Queen at Balmoral for the past three summers and has also been accepted back into the fold at Royal Ascot.
Even her strained relations with Prince Philip were put aside for Eugenie’s wedding — with Fergie’s position beside the Duke of Edinburgh in the official royal portrait seemingly a statement of solidarity.
It was a remarkable breakthrough given that Philip has supposedly refused to speak to her since her “toe-sucking scandal” in 1992.
But royal insider James Brookes claims we should not be fooled by the “amicable front”.
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He says for Philip, 97, the photo was a case of: “Let’s grin and bear it then pretend afterwards this has never happened and will go back to the way things have always been.”
Philip is said to have labelled Fergie “odd” and “pointless”. And when she has been invited to tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle, he has left the room at the point of her arrival.
James says: “It has been said Philip won’t be seen in the same room as her and he won’t speak to her. He sees her as a person he needs to avoid.”
Of all the royals who turned out for Eugenie’s wedding day there was one notable no-show — Camilla.Clarence House said the 71-year-old had a “previous commitment” at a school in Scotland, but many saw it as a direct snub.
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A source said Camilla “hasn’t forgotten” that Prince Andrew failed to speak up as she and Charles struggled to be accepted.Still, Fergie does have one very important champion — the Queen.
Richard Fitzwilliams says: “The Queen has a great fondness for her ebullient nature.While many royals have struggled with this aspect of her personality, the Queen rather enjoys it. There’s no denying that the Duchess is good fun.”
Her high spirits were plain to see on her youngest daughter Eugenie’s wedding day.
Positively basking in the spectacle of the full royal hoopla, she giggled and gurned at the congregation and gave a celebratory fist pump for the well-wishers waiting outside Windsor Castle.
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One source tells The Sun: “Eugenie and Jack are a very laid-back couple so everyone thinks that Fergie was the one who pushed them towards a big royal wedding and invited the cameras in.”
She even gatecrashed the couple’s engagement announcement in January with gushing social media posts.
Her first tweet, with two smiley emojis, read: “A total embrace of goodness AND JOY, we love Jack and I AM SO EXCITED to have a son, a brother and a best friend, Eugenie is one of the finest people I know and so together it will BE PURE HARMONY’ #total joy #engagement @TheDukeOfYork.”
The effusive posts led the BBC to suddenly cancel a scheduled interview with Fergie, leaving her former husband Prince Andrew, 58, to field questions from reporters.
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Many suspected that the royal machine was responsible for shutting her down.
Prince Charles, 69, is said to side with his father on the Fergie issue — and her name was left off the guest list for Harry and Meghan’s evening reception in May.
A source said: “She is not a member of the Royal Family any more and Prince Charles simply doesn’t have time for her. He just can’t see why she is still such a big part of his brother’s life.”
With Charles favouring a slimmed-down Royal Family to do public duties, Fergie and Andrew’s daughters Eugenie, 28, and Beatrice, 30, have been sidelined.
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Richard Fitzwilliams says: “There’s no denying that Harry and Meghan are going to be a dynamic duo, up there with the world’s top charitable networkers.
“I’d imagine that could cause some jealousy from the Yorks.”
Although Sarah and Andrew split up in 1996, they remain on good terms and continue to live together at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park. It has long been rumoured that Prince Philip is the only thing standing between them remarrying.
Fergie told an Australian radio show last year that they “never really left each other”.
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Their wedding was an archetypal royal affair. They married in 1986 at Westminster Abbey and kissed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in front of 100,000 people.
At first, Fergie was so popular that even Princess Diana was intimidated by her charms.
Diana told biographer Andrew Morton that the Duchess of York “wooed everybody in this family and did it so well. . . . She left me looking like dirt”.
But Andrew’s naval career forced them to spend months apart and the cracks began to show in their happy ever after.
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Fergie said in 2010: “For our marriage, I saw him 40 days a year.”
They separated in January 1992 after weeks of speculation that she was having an affair with American Steve Wyatt.
Things only got worse in the August of that year when Fergie was pictured having her toes sucked by her American “financial adviser” John Bryan while on holiday in the South of France.
Her reputation with the royals never quite recovered — although Andrew has welcomed her back into his life with open arms.
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When Fergie ran up £1.5million in debts, Andrew got out his wallet.
In an attempt to ease her money worries, Fergie signed lucrative deals with Wedgwood china and Weight Watchers.
But the latter caused the royals yet more embarrassment when in the accompanying promotion she made some unsavoury comments about Beatrice, saying: “I mean, she is only eight, but she definitely can pack it on a bit.
“Poor baby. I think overeating sort of runs in the family.”
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She reinvented herself as a children’s author with her Budgie The Little Helicopter books, and had a cameo in Friends. But the 1996 publication of Fergie: The Very Private Life Of The Duchess of York, by her former astrologist Madame Vasso, raked up all the muck again.
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With such a colourful history, it is unlikely Fergie will ever be fully welcomed back into the royal fold.
Richard Fitzwilliams says, kindly: “She’s made mistakes and been impulsive. There are aspects of the Duchess’ character that are very difficult to rein in.”
Unfortunately, if she fails to rein herself in, it’s likely she’ll be on the outside for a long time to come.
The Fergie files
Oct 15, 1959: Sarah Margaret Ferguson born at Welbeck Hospital, central London.
1974: Mother Susan and father Major Ron – career soldier and polo enthusiast – divorce. Both remarry, Susan to Argentinian polo player Hector Barrantes.
July 23, 1986: Weds Prince Andrew – fourth in line to throne – at Westminster Abbey. Becomes Her Royal Highness Duchess of York.
Aug 8, 1988: First daughter Beatrice Elizabeth May born.
Sept 1988: Fergie and Andrew on royal tour of Australia.
March 23, 1990: Second daughter Eugenie Victoria Helena born. Fergie cruelly dubbed “Duchess of Pork” after she hit 15st 10lb.
March 19, 1992: Andrew and Fergie announce separation. Palace says she will no longer carry out public engagements on behalf of The Queen.
Aug 1992: Fergie is photographed sunbathing topless and having her toes sucked by American financial manager John Bryan.
Mid-1990s: Reportedly £4.2million in debt.
May 30, 1996: Fergie and Prince Andrew divorce.
2009: Takes part in an “experiment” for a TV show, joining families on a council estate.
2010: Facing bankruptcy. American financier Jeffrey Epstein reportedly paid some of her debts.
2011: Not invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding.
Jan 2012: Turkey’s Ministry of Justice issues an international arrest warrant for Fergie after she entered the country to covertly report on an orphanage in the country.
Sept 2013: Sarah says: “He’s (Andrew) still my handsome prince, he’ll always be my handsome Prince."
Sarah Ferguson posts pointed tweet after Harry and Meghan ‘reveal pregnancy at Princess Eugenie’s wedding’
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