Does Sarah Ferguson Seriously Still Stand By Prince Andrew?

Sarah Ferguson separated from Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II's second son, in 1992, the year that the queen dubbed "annus horribilis" in an end-of-year speech. That's because the breakup of the marriage between Andrew and Sarah, or Fergie as she is commonly known, happened the same year Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation and when Princess Anne, the queen's only daughter, filed for divorce from Mark Phillips. Even all these years and dramas later, Elizabeth is surely still not looking back at 1992 "with undiluted pleasure," as she had predicted in the speech that marked the 40th anniversary of her accession.

But from all the couples that came undone in the early 1990s, Sarah and Andrew are arguably the ones who handled their differences more amiably. Following their separation and 1996 divorce, Fergie and Andrew continued to live together at Royal Lodge, according to Hello!. Even as divorcees, the Duke and Duchess of York raised their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, under the same roof. The arrangement has worked for nearly three decades.

Of course, a lot has happened throughout the years. Andrew has been under fire over his association with American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the BBC noted. In November 2019, Andrew stepped down as a working royal when he was also accused of sexual abuse, allegations he denied, per The Guardian. Amid the chaos, Sarah continues to stand by her ex-husband. 

Whether the accusations against Prince Andrew have put a strain on his relationship with Sarah Ferguson is unknown, but what is known is that her unwavering public support for her ex-husband is still going strong. "I loved him and I still love him today, I will stay by his side, because I believe in him, [he] is a good man," Sarah told France's Madame Figaro (via the Daily Mail) in December. The interview was published during the ongoing trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, a friend of the late Jeffrey Epstein, who is accused of sex trafficking, according to the NHPR. While Andrew is not accused of wrongdoing in the case, his name has been mentioned several times throughout the proceedings, as Reuters noted.

This isn't the first time Sarah has shown her support for Andrew, who is facing a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre in August, The Guardian reported. In July, the Duchess of York shared that she and Andrew had been braving the COVID-19 lockdown together at Royal Lodge, according to The Telegraph. "We always say we are the most contented divorced couple in the world. We're divorced to each other, not from each other," she told the outlet. Their priority has always been Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, both of whom made Sarah and Andrew grandparents this year. "I'm proud of the job we have done together in bringing up our children and sustaining a strong family unit," she told The Telegraph.