Sarah Ferguson has never been known for doing things quietly, and her surprise return to the UK last week was no exception.
Her first public appearance in Britain for more than a year saw the woman still known in royal circles as ‘the Red Setter’ step back into the spotlight at a memorial service for one of her wealthy former partners. She revealed her legs and wore a bracelet bearing her daughters’ names.
The flame-haired 67-year-old may no longer hold the title of Duchess of York, but her role as the mother of two princesses remains central to her public identity.
And, as Our News Outlet can reveal, her ambitions for the future appear to remain every bit as grand as they were before she was stripped of her title just over a year ago. Now living in Surrey, Fergie is understood to have settled in a gated development just across the county border from Sunninghill in Berkshire, where she lived during the early years of her marriage to Prince Andrew, the former Duke of York.
Her reported rent of £10,000 a month is said to be covered by a wealthy Middle Eastern benefactor, who is also paying for a small team of staff to assist her.
Despite that remarkable support, she is reportedly searching for a larger, more permanent residence. One possibility is a move to the Gulf, where she and her former husband retain strong business connections and loyal supporters, particularly among royal households and their circles.
Most strikingly, Our News Outlet has learned that Ferguson’s plans may still be closely linked to those of her disgraced former husband.
The couple were forced out of Royal Lodge in Windsor in February and initially appeared to go their separate ways. Andrew was moved to Norfolk, first to Wood Farm and later to Marsh Farm Cottage on the King’s Sandringham Estate. Ferguson, meanwhile, travelled between Switzerland, Austria and the south of France, relying on the hospitality of wealthy friends.
Sarah Ferguson made her first public appearance in Britain for more than a year to attend a memorial service for businessman Paddy McNally
Before returning to the public eye, she had reportedly been staying intermittently at Les Gais Lutins, a luxurious £15million, eight-bedroom chalet in the Swiss resort of Verbier. The property belonged to the late millionaire Formula One businessman Paddy McNally, whose memorial service in Knightsbridge provided the setting for Ferguson’s comeback.
Ferguson dated McNally for three years before marrying Prince Andrew in 1986, and the two remained close friends until his death at the age of 88 in July.
Away from the cameras, however, Andrew and Sarah have continued to maintain close contact. Their relationship has been shaped by shared scandals, controversies and the long-running mystery surrounding their intertwined finances.
Their bond is understood to be co-dependent rather than romantic. Although they have kept it largely out of public view, sources told Our News Outlet that the pair have been seen together in Norfolk at the home of at least one of their so-called ‘Turnip Toff’ friends.
A royal source, speaking exclusively to Our News Outlet, said: ‘They have survived as a couple, with the occasional hiatus, for 40 years because they share an inordinate love of money, a misguided belief in their own abilities and an inflated sense of entitlement. Andrew has never been besotted with her, although as friends, confidants and keepers of each other’s secrets they have forged an unbreakable, occasionally grim, bond.’
Their daughters’ relationships with them have reportedly come under pressure following the latest scandals, giving the former couple further reason to remain close. Their financial interests, above all, continue to link their lives.
Andrew also remains under investigation over allegations of misconduct in public office. The royal source added: ‘It is rumoured that if he is cleared they could both head off to the Middle East, separately or together.
‘Beatrice and Eugenie are regular visitors to the region and a reconciliation with the daughters might be more possible out there away from the media glare. It would certainly suit the Palace for Andrew and Sarah to be far away.’
Ferguson dated McNally for three years before marrying Prince Andrew in 1986 and the pair remained lifelong friends
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie joined their mother, who has been laying low since the Epstein Files scandal, at the memorial in London’s Knightsbridge
Ferguson’s appearance last week may indicate that pressure on the former Duke and Duchess of York is beginning to ease, or that attitudes towards them are softening. According to the royal source, she had been seeking a public return to Britain for some time but did not attend McNally’s funeral in August. Princess Beatrice went in her place.
Ferguson ultimately decided to attend the memorial for McNally, whom she regarded as a father figure, at St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge on October 29. The date fell almost a year after she was reduced to the status of a commoner. She was reportedly encouraged by the apparent ease with which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had returned to the UK following years of tension with the Royal Family.
‘It was Harry and Meghan’s seeming “reconciliation” with the family in the summer which, while not as warm and fuzzy as might be perceived, finally persuaded Sarah to return,’ said the royal source.
Accompanied by Beatrice and Eugenie, their husbands and Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips, who knew McNally through his own Formula One connections, Ferguson made her first public appearance in Britain since her ill-fated attendance with the then Prince Andrew at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral in September 2025.
The former couple were said to have treated that occasion as a ‘jolly family outing’, laughing as they left Westminster Cathedral and joined members of the Royal Family on the steps.
It was also the first time Ferguson had been photographed at a public event with her daughters since the House of York suffered its dramatic collapse.
Wearing a navy knee-length dress, a matching lace jacket and navy heels, she appeared to greet the occasion with a defiant smile.
That confident display contrasted sharply with her behaviour at the christening of Beatrice’s daughter, Athena, last December. On that occasion, Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor quietly entered the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, arrived in separate cars and missed the post-service celebration at a Marylebone pub to avoid causing embarrassment.
Behind the scenes Ferguson has remained in close contact with her ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Even so, the royal source told Our News Outlet that it would be premature to suggest Ferguson and Andrew had restored their relationships with their adult children following their dealings with the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Sarah is believed not yet to have met her grandchildren and may not have met Eugenie’s youngest child, Adelaide, who was born in August. ‘Both princesses are concerned about potential further hits to their reputations,’ the source said.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Jessica Simpson’s Nashville Romance: Her ‘Cougar’ Rules Revealed
‘Beatrice and Eugenie aren’t yet fully reconciled with their mother – and definitely not with their father. Beatrice is more open to reconciliation. Eugenie less so.’ Royal biographer Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise And Fall Of The House Of York, also believes the family remains divided as the sisters attempt to balance loyalty to the Crown with their responsibilities as daughters.
‘I think Eugenie is conflicted,’ he said. ‘Beatrice is so in the thrall of her mother that it’s harder for her. Neither of their husbands’ families are very keen on Sarah and Andrew because of the risk of reputational damage.
‘But throughout their lives the girls have been aware of the scandals and known that this is the sort of world their parents move in and the kind of people they associated with.
‘They’ve also benefited themselves from their parents’ business contacts, particularly in the Middle East.’
From an early age, both princesses were exposed to their parents’ network of wealthy international contacts. They accompanied their father on trips to the Gulf States and their mother on visits involving ‘Uncle Jeffrey’, the name by which Epstein was known to them.
Their connections to the lucrative Formula One world also date back decades through Ferguson’s friendship with McNally. The sisters, and more recently their husbands, have regularly attended Grand Prix events as VIP guests.
There has been speculation that McNally, who was 22 years older than Ferguson, may have left her part of his estimated £600million fortune. Given her reputation for lavish spending – she famously spent £25,000 in one hour at Bloomingdale’s in New York – and her financial difficulties, she has relied heavily on the generosity of wealthy individuals throughout her life.
She has written more than 50 books, including memoirs, royal biographies and historical romances, which continue to provide a modest income. However, that revenue is not thought to be sufficient to support the lifestyle to which she has become accustomed.
Nor is Ferguson expected to publish a full tell-all account of her fall from grace, despite tentative discussions. Such a book could seriously damage her relationship with her daughters.
The royal source told Our News Outlet: ‘The main source of her money has been Andrew. She may have taken a scattergun approach to making money but he, or rather his trusted business contacts, were far more shrewd, leaving him quite comfortably off.
‘Sarah has been a beneficiary of Andrew’s acumen, investing herself and in joint enterprises with her husband.’
The full scale of the former couple’s wealth, as well as that of their daughters, remains unclear.
‘Andrew’s business dealings are mainly overseas and deliberately convoluted,’ the source said.
‘His business associates have stood by him and he has been able to pursue his ventures, albeit usually from a distance, without the demands of tiresome official duties getting in the way.’
Lownie said: ‘They’ve still got mutual friends and contacts in the Middle East who are standing by them. They’re very well treated out there and still addressed as HRHs. Their business interests continue. Very little has changed except that now there is actually far less scrutiny of their financial affairs because they’re not representing the Royal Family, only themselves.’
There are other indications that life may be becoming less difficult for the former duke and duchess, including signs of sympathy within the wider Royal Family.
Although they are unlikely ever to return to the royal inner circle, two of Andrew’s siblings, Princess Anne and Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, are said to have shown some compassion towards him.
One entertaining but unverified story claims that Andrew was recently taken into Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate hidden in the back of a horse box.
The King is also said to have asked wealthy friends in north Norfolk’s upper-class community to ‘keep an eye out’ for his socially isolated younger brother.
Lownie said: ‘High society hasn’t turned its back on them. Andrew is still welcome at shooting parties and the homes of the Turnip Toffs.
‘The word has gone out that people should be kind to him. He’s not being boycotted but it’s all going on behind closed doors.’
The couple’s future is likely to depend heavily on the outcome of the ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct in public office by Mountbatten-Windsor. The inquiry follows allegations that he passed confidential information to Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy.
He was arrested in February this year but has not been charged. Andrew challenged the legality of warrants used by Thames Valley Police to search Royal Lodge in Windsor, his former residence, and Wood Farm at Sandringham, where he was temporarily staying. A High Court judge agreed that warrants issued at the Old Bailey were unlawful because the wrong legislation had been used.
The warrants were quashed in July during a private hearing that became public last month. However, the investigation remains active, with police seeking permission to retain the documents and electronic devices seized. A private hearing is scheduled for 2027. According to the royal source, the continuing delay is ‘hindering planning’ for the former prince.
Ferguson also continues to face unanswered questions over her business affairs. Her charity, Sarah’s Trust, closed earlier this year, while questions remain about the collapse of Gate Ventures, the entertainment investment firm on whose board she served.
Most significantly, Ferguson and Andrew have yet to provide a full account of their dealings with Epstein, whose legacy continues to cast a shadow over them from the United States.
This week, Police Scotland confirmed that it had begun an early-stage investigation into activities at Balmoral Castle involving Andrew, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, including allegations that women were trafficked to the royal residence.
The Democrats’ recapture of the House of Representatives in this week’s US midterm elections could also lead to renewed scrutiny of the Epstein files. Many documents have yet to be released, and the party has pledged to revisit the case, potentially creating further discomfort for Andrew and Sarah.
A year after their dramatic and devastating fall from grace, is it really surprising that the former spouses – once dubbed the ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ of the Royal Family – continue to stand by each other?
