There is no doubt that Sarah Ferguson can say she is the author of her own misfortune – she went after Jeffrey Epstein’s wealth just as he pursued her royal access and status. But had he still been alive, there is one senior royal who would be saying “I told you so” about her dramatic fall from grace – Prince Philip.
In his bombshell biography ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’, historian Andrew Lownie claims while the late Queen Elizabeth bemoaned “does that girl never stop talking!”, Prince Philip just thought she was a “girl on the make” and “vulgar”. Now reading the latest shocking Epstein Files emails between the convicted US paedophile financier and Fergie, he may have been spot on.
Admittedly, there was not much love lost between Prince Philip and Fergie in the end but at the beginning, the pair were seen as being quite close.
In the early 1980s it is reported that Philip was quite fond of this chatty daughter of ex-British Army Major Ronald Ivor Ferguson, a polo manager initially for the Duke of Edinburgh and later for Charles, Prince of Wales.
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Major Ferguson was the son of Marian Montagu Douglas Scott – a first cousin of Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott, who became Princess Alice – after marrying King George VI’s brother Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester – an aunt of Queen Elizabeth II.
When Fergie got engaged to Prince Andrew in 1986, Philip believed she would be a “great asset” to the Royal Family.
But Philip and Fergie’s relationship soured in 1992 when her and Andrew’s marriage crumbled. She was staying at Balmoral when photos were published of her toes being ‘sucked’ by her financial advisor John Bryan on holiday in St Tropez.
Stiff upper lip Philip found the images “beyond the pale” and was “apoplectic” over the embarrassment they caused the Queen – and he basically declared her persona non grata.
There was even reportedly the “Balmoral Dance” when Fergie visited the Queen at Balmoral – meaning the schedule was strictly managed so that she would leave before Philip arrived.
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Sarah Ferguson, Andrew, the late Queen and Prince Philip in April 1986 (Image: Getty)
The two were pictured together for the first time in 26 years at Princess Eugenie’s wedding in 2018, though observers noted Philip remained distant and “avoided her like the plague”.
It was no coincidence that since Philip’s passing in 2021, Fergie – for a period – was gradually reintroduced into royal society and spent more time at Andrew’s side.
Previously, Fergie confirmed the fractured bond between her and Philip on Alan Carr’s Life’s A Beach podcast, saying: “You had to be on your best. If you (made) a silly comment, you were certainly told it was a silly comment.”
Royal historian Kenneth Rose said Fergie told him she still has letters from Prince Philip, relating to the John Bryan incident, “telling me that I have let down The Firm”.
She told Rose of her letters from Philip: “In one of them, he wrote that he had been reading a book about Edwina Mountbatten [Lord Mountbatten’s wife, notorious for having had many lovers, including, allegedly, Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India], and that my conduct reminded him of her.”
Philip’s concern and caution over Fergie looks so prescient now – but just like Andrew’s decades of arrogance, there were warnings signs that a future disaster could happen.
If it makes Philip any happier, looking down on the Epstein fallout from on high with his head in his hands, then the ‘Balmoral Dance’ will now be the ‘Balmoral Outright Ban’ – Fergie won’t be welcome there for a decade or two.