Sarah Ferguson Facts You May Not Have Heard Before

This article contains references to disordered eating and body shaming. 

Before there was Fergie of Black Eyed Peas fame, there was Fergie the royal, aka Sarah Ferguson, aka the Duchess of York, aka the first and only ex-wife of Prince Andrew. Ferguson became a household name when she managed to get the third of Queen Elizabeth's children (and reportedly her favorite) to put a ring on it. In doing so, she seemingly tamed the rambunctious royal the press had dubbed "Randy Andy," and the "Playboy Prince." 

The couple became parents to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, before divorcing in 1996. "I didn't want a divorce but had to because of circumstance," she once told Harper's Bazaar. "[It was] the most painful time of my life." While the split was nowhere near as acrimonious or scandal-ridden as the divorce of then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana, it wasn't for lack of trying. Who can forget Fergie's dalliance with a toe-sucking Texan? Or the ongoing fallout from Andrew's unfortunate friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and the allegations surrounding it?

Yet there's an interesting phenomenon that seems to occur with members of Britain's royal family, in that familiarity tends not to breed contempt, but a gradual softening of opinion. Just as Camilla Parker Bowles transformed from Britain's most-hated woman to the country's generally respected Queen Consort, the public has similarly warmed to Fergie over the years. To find out more about this resilient red-headed royal, read on for some Sarah Ferguson facts you may not have heard before. 

When Prince Andrew began courting Sarah Ferguson, she was far from an unknown entity to him or his family. After all, the prince and his future ex-wife are actually related, through more than one aristocratic British bloodline. According to Reader's Digest, the most regal of these comes from her paternal grandmother, Marian Montagu Douglas Scott, who was the first cousin of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Alice was not only Queen Elizabeth II's aunt (by marriage, when Alice wed Elizabeth's uncle, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester), but was also the sister-in-law of the Queen Mother. 

As a result of their shared lineage, Sarah and Andrew first encountered each other when they were just toddlers. As her mother, Susan Barrantes, told the The Washington Post back in 1986, her daughter first met Prince Andrew when they were about three years old, on the sidelines of a polo match. "Doesn't everybody?" Barrantes quipped.

While marrying one's relative may seem shocking for commoners, it's no big deal in royal circles. As Reader's Digest pointed out, other royal relatives who tied the knot include Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (who were actually first cousins), Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (third cousins and, through a different line, second cousins once removed), and Charles and Diana, who were seventh cousins once removed.

With all those royal relations being intertwined, it shouldn't be surprising that another of Sarah Ferguson's many royal relatives was Princess Diana. Per Town & Country, the two were fourth cousins with the two becoming good pals when Ferguson was 21 and Diana was 19. In fact, it was Lady Di who first introduced the duchess to her future ex-husband. "I said to her, 'Oh, Andrew's really good-looking,'" Ferguson told People. "And she said, 'Duh, Fergs!'" 

As People recalled, Diana intervened by adding Ferguson's name to the guest list of a party the Queen was hosting during the annual Royal Ascot horse race in 1985. "We were made to sit next to each other," Prince Andrew said of Ferguson, as reported by People. A few months later, they were engaged and got married in July 1986.

Sarah found her friendship with Diana put to the test once she officially became a royal, with the media continually pitting the two against each other. "In the '80s, it was Diana looking beautiful, and there was fat, frumpy Fergie," Ferguson griped to People, with the outlet recalling the unflattering nickname she'd been given by the British tabloid press — the Duchess of Pork. "We were just there for people to make a lot of money," she added. "At the time we both didn't realize that."

Sarah Ferguson made royal history — or broke royal protocol, depending on how you look at it — when she became the first female royal to enjoy a bachelorette party prior to her nuptials. As reported by Associated Press, Fergie, Princess Diana, and a group of female friends hatched a hilarious plan: They costumed themselves as policewomen and planned to bust in on Prince Andrew's bachelor party, which was happening the same night. 

They never made it to the party, abruptly changing plans and heading to upscale London nightclub, Annabel's — said to be the only club that Queen Elizabeth II ever attended. It was there that the bogus cops attracted the attention of the real cops, while their actual identities went unrecognized. ″For a moment it must have seemed like a police raid, then guests obviously decided they were 'kiss-o-gram' girls," the nightclub's manager told AP. "They were perfectly disguised and certainly had us fooled." 

Scotland Yard was not impressed. ″There is an offense of impersonating a police officer — but they were supposed to be in fancy dress,″ said a spokeswoman. After exiting the nightclub, the women later caused a scene outside Buckingham Palace when they locked the gates and refused to let Andrew in when he returned from his own party, per Town & Country. 

Married to sibling princes, Sarah Ferguson and Princess Diana remained good friends as sisters-in-law. Until they didn't. "And the saddest thing, at the end, we hadn't spoken for a year, though I never knew the reason, except that once Diana got something in her head ...,"  Ferguson recalled in a 2007 interview with Harper's Bazaar. The duchess explained that she attempted to smooth things over with Diana, certain that she would reconnect with her eventually. "In fact, the day before she died she rang a friend of mine and said, 'Where's that Red? I want to talk to her.'"

Ferguson may have claimed to have no idea what caused the royal rift, but the Express offered an explanation. In her 2006 autobiography, "My Story," she wrote about her close relationship with Diana and attempted to illustrate their intimate connection with a brief anecdote. "Diana helped me by giving me all her shoes (and less happily, her plantar warts)," wrote Ferguson in the book, a throwaway line that reportedly incurred the wrath of Diana. 

Katie Nicholl, Vanity Fair's royal correspondent, told The Express, "I think Sarah made many attempts to make it up but Diana bore a grudge — she could really bear a grudge." Tina Brown, author of the 2007 biography "The Diana Chronicles," similarly told the outlet, "Despite Fergie's pleading apologies, Diana never spoke to her again."

Prince Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot, with The New York Times reporting that he flew patrols during the 10-week-long Falklands War. As a way to support her husband and gain an appreciation of his military service, Sarah Ferguson decided to learn how to fly herself. As the Los Angeles Times reported, in 1987 she earned her helicopter pilot license. "I am constantly surprised by her," said the Duke of York when he pinned her newly acquired wings on her sweater during a ceremony marking the occasion after taking a flight with his newly licensed pilot wife. Apparently, her flight was a smooth one. "He didn't need a sick bag," Fergie quipped. 

Her helicopter skills came in handy more than three decades later. In 2021, the Daily Mail reported that Ferguson had signed a deal to star in a new reality show. For the concept, she would pilot a chopper throughout Australia, and chat with people she'd randomly meet in different parts of the country wherever she happened to land. "I'll be talking to people in Australia about the culture, the flora, and fauna of their nation," she explained. As she told the Mail, in preparation she'd have to renew her pilot license, which had lapsed, and retake the test in order be ready for the show. Its title? "Duchess Down Under." As of October 2022, the show was yet to take flight. 

During the period between when Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew announced their separation and their eventual divorce, Fergie wound up vacationing with Texas oil billionaire, John Bryan. As the Mirror recalled, this led to arguably her biggest scandal when paparazzi managed to capture photos of the two poolside as Bryan sucked and nibbled on the Duchess of York's toes.

Those embarrassing photos did not go over well with her father-in-law. According to the Express, the Duke of Edinburgh became infuriated by the photos, and never forgave her for embarrassing the Firm. Prince Philip, in fact, reportedly held a grudge that hadn't diminished a quarter-century later. In 2018, the Duke and Duchess of York's daughter, Princess Eugenie, married Jack Brooksbank. Ahead of the wedding, the outlet noted that would be the first time that Philip and Fergie had crossed paths in years. "The royal wedding will be difficult for the Duke of Edinburgh because he hates Fergie so much he can't stand to be in the same place as her," a source told the newspaper. 

Apparently, that was no exaggeration. Just a few months later, the Express reported that Fergie had been visiting Andrew at Balmoral but made a hasty retreat before the Duke of Edinburgh was scheduled to arrive. A Balmoral source claimed to the Daily Mail that he would similarly go to great lengths to avoid bumping into her, too. "He just can't bring himself to forgive her for some of the outrageous things she has done," they commented.

Throughout her years as a public figure, Sarah Ferguson has continually experienced drastic weight fluctuations. She opened up about her emotional dependency on food during a 2018 interview with the Daily Mail. Tracing her eating habits back to her parent's divorce when she was a child, she explained, "That was when I began to comfort eat, and why I've had a weight problem all my life."

Per CNN, in 1997, she signed on as a celebrity spokesperson for weight watchers. In doing so, she transformed her weight loss journey into a money-making opportunity that also led to significant weight loss. "It was my difficulties with weight control that made Weight Watchers approach me to be their spokesperson," she said at the time, per the Express. In one of the TV commercials released during her 11-year stint as a Weight Watchers spokesperson, the newly svelt Fergie stated how she understood firsthand how difficult it was to stay on a diet. "It's harder than being called 'the Duchess of Pork,'" she stated, rolling her eyes at the insult. "It's the hardest thing in the world."

Her association with Weight Watchers didn't just help her to maintain her desired weight, it also manifested itself in other aspects of the way she lived. "That relationship changed my life," she said of her role with Weight Watchers, via Express. "Marking an important turning point when my weight, health, personal life, and finances all started to come under control."

In 1998, Sarah Ferguson proved she'd be there for us when she made a special guest-starring appearance on "Friends." As recounted by Refinery29, that particular episode was a two-parter in which the whole gang travels to London to attend the wedding of Ross (David Schwimmer) and his British fiancee, Emily (Helen Baxendale) — which, spoiler alert, does not go as planned.

Fergie appears in a video that Joey (Matt LeBlanc) brings back home. In it, the Duchess of York poses with him while he wears a ridiculous Dr. Seuss-style hat embossed with a Union Jack that he bought, against Chandler's (Matthew Perry) advice, from a street vendor played by Sir Richard Branson. "Hi Chandler," Fergie says in the video. "Joey says you don't really like his hat, but I think it's kind of dashing."

As for how "Friends" managed to land her as a guest star, author Kelsey Miller chronicled how it came together in the book, "I'll Be There for You: The One About Friends." According to Miller (via InStyle), Fergie had to be persuaded to do the guest appearance by her daughters. Ultimately, Ferguson's appearance on the show helped to reduce public animosity toward her in the U.K. "At a time when Fergie-bashing had become a national pastime, 'Friends' was a welcome relief," wrote Miller. 

Sarah Ferguson was nicknamed "Fergie" by the press back in the 1990s. But as the years went on, a second Fergie emerged. The new one, whose real name is Stacy Ferguson, is best known for once being a member of Black Eyed Peas before embarking on a successful career as a solo artist. Fergie (the musical one, not the royal one) slyly referenced the original with the title of her 2006 album, "The Dutchess," featuring the hit single "London Bridge." As it happened, OG Fergie was not unaware of Fergie 2.0, with Ferguson joking that the pop star had been "naughty" to swipe her name, per CBC News.

Years later, the Duchess of York wound up meeting with Black Eyed Peas founder, will.i.am, and even recorded a collaboration with him when he accepted her invitation to drop by for a spot of tea. will.i.am explained the irresistible invite on an episode of "Lorraine" (via Yahoo! Finance). "I went over her house for tea and she said, 'You know I write poetry?' I was like, 'You know what'd be really cool? Is if you recited poetry to some of my music.'"

While a recording of that collab has yet to be released, will.i.am revealed that he and Ferguson also hung out — with Oprah Winfrey, no less. "We were bumpin' in the car in the whip and Fergie was like, 'Yo, turn that s*** up,'" he told Bizarre (via The Sun).

Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew are somewhat unique among royals who've divorced — and, quite frankly, anyone who's divorced — in that they live together, years after calling it quits. Per Woman & Home, more than 20 years after the two made their uncoupling official in 1996, Ferguson packed up and moved back in with Prince Andrew at Royal Lodge, a 30-room Georgian-style mansion next door to Windsor Castle.

The situation is apparently not nearly as awkward as one might imagine. Not only have the two remained friendly since their split, but Royal Lodge is also a huge house, so it's not like they're constantly bumping into each other. "I'm in and out all the time, and he's in and out all the time," Ferguson told an Australian radio show in 2016 (via People). "And no, we're not married. We're very happy with the way things are."

Meanwhile, at least one of the former couple's two daughters is cool with their living situation. 'They are the best-divorced couple I know," Princess Eugenie once told Tatler (via BBC News). Others who are happy that the two reside there together are the collection of corgis left orphaned by the death of the Queen. "The corgis will return to live at Royal Lodge with the duke and duchess," a source told the BBC, noting that Fergie had bonded with the dogs while she and the Queen enjoyed regular walks together.

In the midst of everything else going on in her life, Sarah Ferguson managed to carve out a sideline as an author. Apparently, she's no celebrity dilettante dictating to a ghostwriter either, as Ferguson may actually write her own books. "I'm now 77 books into a writing career that has spanned several decades, so for people to say I am only published because of my title or I couldn't be smart enough to write a book is a little uncharitable," she wrote in an email to the Irish Times.

Fergie's literary efforts have not been wedged into a particular genre. Among the books she's written for Harper-Collins are dieting books ("Dieting with the Duchess," and the cookbook spinoff, "Dining with the Duchess"), self-help books ("Reinventing Yourself with the Duchess of York"), and children's books ("Ballerina Rose," "Tea for Ruby"). She's additionally written a series of children's books reflecting her status as a licensed helicopter pilot, starting with 1989's "Budgie, the Little Helicopter."

She also penned the historical novel, "Her Heart for a Compass," a fictionalized account of the life of her ancestor, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott, published in 2021. "I've written this book because it's about women's empowerment and being strong enough to stand up and be counted," she told People. "With each line and each chapter, I was in search of my own heart." Per People, the novel's success led to a 22-book deal, with a follow-up, "Most Intriguing Lady," positioned for a 2023 release. 

As an extension of her role as children's book author, Sarah Ferguson has taken to reading books to kids with her "Storytime with Fergie and Friends" YouTube channel. As the Daily Mail pointed out, she started reading books online in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, as a way to help keep children entertained during quarantine lockdown.

While Ferguson reads some of her own children's books, she mainly reads those written by other authors. She first announced her YouTube channel via Instagram, writing, "It's all free and just for fun. There will be a new story posted every weekday at 4 pm and a longer storytime on Saturdays. I so hope you enjoy them and they give some of you something new to do during this difficult time for everyone."

In her first video, she explained her motivation for reading stories to kids online. "It's so exciting because I'm in my favorite place ever, ever, ever and that's with children and thinking of children, and thinking of all the children out there that just need a little bit of magic, and you're not alone," she said. Fergie also promised she'd keep her videos brief, so as not to task the wandering attention spans of little ones. "Don't worry, they're not very long books," she added. "Let's get a bit of magic going here, shall we!"

When King Charles became monarch after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, his fortune reportedly ballooned to more than $42 billion. Sarah Ferguson's own portion of cash, of course, is nowhere near that. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the Duchess of York is estimated to be worth — cue the Dr. Evil impression — $1 million. Still, that number is a step up from where she was in 2010 when The Guardian reported she was on the brink of another royal first — becoming the first member of the House of Windsor to go bankrupt. 

At the time, she was millions in debt — a situation about which the Queen was reportedly worried. In fact, Ferguson had become so desperate for cash, that she was busted in a sting operation by the British tabloid, News of the World (via The Guardian). The Duchess was caught on camera accepting £500,000 (more than $750,000) from a reporter posing as a businessman in exchange for access to her ex-husband. "That opens up everything you would ever wish for," said the cash-strapped royal, recorded on tape. "Look after me and he'll look after you ... you'll get it back tenfold."

She was forced to issue an apology but insisted Andrew had no idea she was pimping him out to businessmen. "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 said in a statement.

Having stepped into scandal yet again after being caught on tape accepting a bribe, there was only one person Sarah Ferguson could call in hopes of rehabbing her public image: Oprah Winfrey. That's right, long before Meghan Markle and Prince Harry sat down with the show host for their own blockbuster interview, Sarah Ferguson did it first. In her 2010 appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Fergie admitted alcohol factored into her bribery scandal but didn't try to dodge responsibility. "There aren't really very many words to describe an act of such gross stupidity," she said.

Her interview was just one prong in a multifaceted, Oprah-orchestrated media campaign designed to restore her battered reputation. Another cog in this machine was "Finding Sarah," a reality show for the fledgling OWN network. Ferguson told Winfrey that she trusted her to portray her life with authenticity. "I remember so clearly you saying to me, 'Sarah, I want you to know if you come with good intentions, your intentions will show. And I will know if you are not in good intentions,'" Ferguson told Oprah in an interview. "Now the brilliance about you is that for some reason you knew Sarah, and I didn't know her."

Sadly, some critics weren't exactly impressed. In a scathing review of "Finding Sarah" for The Washington Post, Hank Stuever wrote, "['Finding Sarah' is] one more has-been celebrity with her own camera crew, laying her emotions and daily dramas bare in the hope of salvaging her personal brand."