Sarah Ferguson is certainly no stranger to a controversy or two, but the publication of a new book (which dredges up allegations from her past) has left the Duchess of York reeling.
Pitched as a deep dive into Fergie’s disgraced ex-husband, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and the life they once shared, Andrew Lownie’s Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York has been making headlines for its explosive claims about the couple.
Along with alleging that Andrew had many extra-marital affairs, Lownie makes the bold claim that Fergie once set out to romance Tiger Woods!
“Of course, Sarah is crushed at how this is going to affect her standing with the royals,” an insider tells New Idea. “She’s been working so hard to get back in their good graces, and there’s no doubt any sympathy they may have had before will be severely damaged by this book.”
As the self-billed “happiest divorced couple”, Fergie and Andrew, both 65, have stuck by each other against all odds.
The duchess has remained living with her ex-husband at Royal Lodge even in the face of his public downfall.
But now that they are dealing with a book that claims to be a “tell-all” about their past, Fergie is concerned about how their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, will handle yet more scrutiny and backlash around the York name.
The sisters are also trying their best to prove they’d make valuable working royals.
“As much as it pains Sarah to be back in the royal doghouse, she’s more worried about Bea and Eugenie,” the source says.
“It’s not fair that they be bundled up into her and Andrew’s mistakes.”
At press time, none of the Yorks had commented publicly on the many claims made in Lownie’s book.
The biggest bombshells about Fergie in Andrew Lownie’s book
The ‘Anna Delvey’ of the Windsors
Lownie alleges an unimpressed Queen Elizabeth II bailed her daughter-in-law out of her financial holes on more than one occasion, but Fergie “also found ways and means” of getting around any budgets.
In moves that have seen her compared to faux heiress Anna Delvey, Fergie would apparently “breeze out” of five-star hotels without fixing up the bill.
Other times, her friends would loan her money that never got repaid in full, as she believed part of the funds were a “gift”.
Fergie also allegedly relied on businesses, such as the late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, not pushing her to pay her account.
A former employee told Lownie, “These accounts just never get paid, somehow. The shops don’t complain because of who she is, or they never used to.”
By 1996, the palace was tired of footing Fergie’s bills and insisted, “The Duchess’s financial affairs are no longer Her Majesty’s concern.”
Sarah Ferguson dubbed ‘The Duchess of Greed’
As a married royal, Fergie took advantage of the palace’s wallet – living a life of “opulent excess”, according to Lownie.
As Andrew’s wife, Fergie could rack up yearly bills to the tune of $1.8 million on staff, glamorous holidays, flowers, and parties.
Other splurges included shelling out up to $8000 for excess baggage at airports and $29,000 monthly wine bills.
Lownie claims staff told of Fergie’s “greed and wastefulness that contributed to [her] financial downfall” – including epic feasts “that would make Henry VIII proud”.
“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,” the source says. “It just sits there all night, and the next day it’s thrown away.”
A crush on Tiger… and JFK Jr!
Sarah Woods? That’s supposedly the future Fergie was eyeing up a
A year after her split from Andrew when she set her sights on the up-and-coming golfer, Tiger Woods.
According to the book, a newly single Fergie told her friend, Piers Morgan, that she was “in love” with Tiger.
She then proceeded to fly across the world to meet him in person and to “follow him around the course for a bit and see how I get on”.
The unlikely duo became friends, but the sports star wasn’t the only famous man Fergie desired.
Apparently, Fergie had a crush on John F. Kennedy Jr. and invited him to her New York hotel for drinks or dinner, despite him dating actress Daryl Hannah at the time.
JFK Jr. cancelled, but Fergie didn’t give up – particularly after finding out Princess Diana had already met him.
“She was furious: ‘He’s mine! Why can’t she just leave him alone?” the author writes.
Affairs and divorce regrets
Lownie alleges that Andrew bedded 12 women in his first year of marriage to Fergie, but apparently she also enjoyed an affair or two with “reckless abandon”.
His book claims Fergie embarked on an affair with American Playboy Steve Wyatt in late 1989 – the year before she and Andrew welcomed their second daughter, Eugenie.
The fling is said to have continued with Steve until his friend John Bryan saw a chance to romance Fergie himself.
Despite infidelities on both sides ending the marriage in 1992, Fergie expressed regret over their divorce and has never ruled out remarrying her prince.
