This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.Fergie’s Foibles: A History of Sarah Ferguson’s Scandals

Tim TeemanWed, March 25, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC

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A History of Sarah Ferguson’s ScandalsWPA Pool - Getty Images

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Timing really is everything. The appearance of Sarah Ferguson (Natalie Dormer) in The Lady strikes a dark note. The four-part BritBox drama is about Ferguson’s former dresser Jane Andrews (Mia McKenna-Bruce), and the circumstances that led to Andrews killing a former boyfriend, with Fergie present at the drama’s outset as a sisterly boss swapping confidences with Andrews and complaining about her treatment by the tabloids.

The focus and timeframe of the drama, which begins in the late 1980’s, means that Jeffrey Epstein features not at all—and so the tidal wave of scandal and revelation around links to and relationships with Epstein that’s presently plaguing both Ferguson and ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew), goes unmentioned.

This past weekend, there were calls for Fergie to formally testify before the oversight committee investigating Epstein. Congressman Suhas Subramanyam told the Mail on Sunday: “It is clear from the files we have that Sarah Ferguson and Jeffrey Epstein had a close relationship. She once called Epstein the ‘brother I always wished for’ and Epstein provided her with financial assistance. She should tell our committee what she knows about Epstein's financial and sex trafficking enterprises. If she has nothing to hide then this shouldn't be a problem. No one, not even former royalty, is above the law.”

Natalie Dormer as Sarah Ferguson and Mia McKenna-Bruce a Jane Andrews in The Lady, airing now on BritBox.Jonathan Ford – Courtesy of BritBox

The cascading Epstein-related headlines have affected The Lady, with Dormer telling Variety in September that since completing the production “new information has come to light that makes it impossible for me to reconcile my values with Sarah Ferguson’s behavior, which I believe is inexcusable. For that reason, I will not be taking part in the promotion of the project.”

While her relationship with Epstein is by far the most grave of a long line of scandals that have defined the former Duchess of York’s public life, it’s certainly not the only one. Just this last weekend, the Daily Mail reported that Ferguson had been planning to “clone” two of Queen Elizabeth’s late corgis she had taken care of since the monarch’s death for a new reality TV show; a spokesperson subsequently told People she had “declined to participate” in the project. (Ferguson has previously said how close she had been to the late queen, calling her “obviously the biggest influence; it was the privilege of my life to have her as my mother-in-law.”)

After marrying Andrew in 1986, the first six years of “Fergie’s” royal life set the pace and tone of the rollercoaster to come. First hailed as a youthful and welcome breath of fresh air breaking old-school royal stuffiness—alongside Princess Diana—Fergie’s looks and dress sense, compared to the widely lauded Diana’s, and her exuberant manner soon became targets of tabloid mockery.

Sarah Ferguson, who was previously the Duchess of York, and the former Prince Andrew at Royal Ascot in 2019.Max Mumby/Indigo - Getty Images

In August 1992, five months after Fergie and Andrew had announced their separation after six years of marriage, Britain’s Daily Mirror published a front-page picture of her financial advisor, the Texan millionaire John Bryan, sucking Fergie’s toes and “kissing and frolicking” with her at her holiday villa in St. Tropez. The headline was “Fergie’s Stolen Kisses.” Bryan later told royal reporter Richard Kay: “I wasn’t sucking her toes, I was kissing them!” The story broke as Fergie was at Balmoral with the other royals at their annual summer sojourn. She later recalled royal family members reading the paper “eyes wide and mouths ajar” over breakfast, adding: “It would be accurate to report that the porridge was getting cold.”

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Many of Ferguson’s other scandals had to do less with romance than with money. In November 1995, according to author Andrew Lownie, she had amassed debuts of around £3.7 million, and in 2010, the now-extinct British tabloid the News of the World, revealed via a sting operation that she was selling access to Andrew for £500,000. “That opens up everything you would ever wish for. I can open any door you want, and I will for you. Look after me and he’ll look after you … you’ll get it back tenfold,” Fergie told an undercover reporter posing as a wealthy businessman. Fergie was also filmed taking a $40,000 cash down-payment. Later, Ferguson said: “I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused. It is true that my financial situation is under stress, however, that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry that this has happened.” She also said that Andrew had not been involved with, or aware, of what she was doing.

Still, nothing has been as difficult for the former Duchess of York to maneuver as her relationship with the late convicted sex offender Epstein. CNN recently detailed how Ferguson had “continually showered Epstein with praise, including after his 2008 conviction in Florida for soliciting prostitution from a minor.” Emails excavated from the Epstein Files reveal Ferguson making plans to meet him with her daughters (then aged 20 and 19), and—at a time when she was owing tens of thousands of pounds in rent—asking Epstein to employ her. In different emails she accuses Epstein of only being friends with her to “get to Andrew.” In October it was revealed that in 2011 Ferguson had sent an email to Epstein calling him a “supreme friend,” weeks after publicly declaring that it had been a “gigantic error of judgment” to have dealings with him, and vowing to “have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.”

Sarah Ferguson and Diana Spencer at a polo match in 1981, before either married into Britain’s royal family.Anwar Hussein - Getty Images

A spokesperson for Ferguson said the mollifying email to Epstein had been to counter threats he had made to sue her for defamation, saying Epstein had made a “chilling call” to Ferguson threatening to destroy her family. In the wake of the Epstein revelations, seven charities Ferguson had been a patron or ambassador of have severed ties with her. Last month, it was announced that Ferguson’s own charity, Sarah’s Trust, was closing “for the foreseeable future.” To date, Ferguson has not been accused of any crimes related to Epstein.

While the scandal shows no signs of disappearing, the Daily Mail recently reported that Ferguson has been staying with friends in the French Alps and the UAE, as she “gets her head together.” She has also been reportedly been spending time with youngest daughter Princess Eugenie as she plans her return to the U.K.

The Mail quoted sources revealing that Ferguson had told friends: “I need to get back to work. I need money,” adding, “When I come back I am going to have to put some distance between myself and Andrew.” If she returns to the U.K., it would not be to live with him within the royals’ Sandringham estate, the Mail reports, but in the Windsor area, where she plans to buy or rent a property herself. (Ferguson’s last public appearance was in December 2025 at the christening of her granddaughter Athena, the second child of Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.)

Fergie may also be preparing to dish. After several on-screen interviews—including telling Oprah Winfrey in 1996 of her marriage to Andrew, “you didn’t marry the fairytale, you married the man”—it was recently reported that Fergie was eyeing a six or seven-figure deal for another prime-time TV interview about Epstein and, who knows, perhaps airing more royal family secrets.

How successful a future Ferguson can craft remains in question. One source told the Mail: “I don’t know whether Sarah is just deluded or desperate. She is 66 and has no home and no discernible income. The public is disgusted by what they have read. And how would she pay a new PR team to rescue her reputation? She is said to be looking to bounce back, in typical Fergie style. I’m just not sure the public will buy it.”

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