Sarah Ferguson’s well-documented fall from grace has caused a mountain of drama for the royal family in recent months.
But as it’s been speculated that the former Duchess of York has been weighing up offers to write a tell-all book about the fallout from the scandal, it’s believed that Fergie, 66, could be negotiating a ‘pension deal’ with King Charles.
After years of research, royal expert Andrew Lownie – author of Entitled: The Rise And Fall of The House Of York – alleges, ‘That may be what Fergie’s negotiating at the moment – can she get a nice pension from them and not have to worry about making money elsewhere to do an Oprah interview.’
And insiders tell Closer it’s left the rest of the family fuming.
Sarah Ferguson is negotiating a pension-deal with King Charles, according to reports ©Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Our source says, ‘Sarah’s financially desperate and hawking around her tell-all – but if Charles helps her out, she’d have less need to talk about the family in order to make money. The King hasn’t made any promises, but everyone’s stunned – they can’t believe Charles is even considering it.
‘The King is arguing that a hardline stance could backfire, and it’s smarter to manage things quietly as Sarah knows decades worth of private family secrets. He insists that any arrangement with Sarah would come with formal confidentiality agreements.’
But the insider continues, ‘William understands Charles wants to protect them from more embarrassment, but he’s raging – and says Sarah could see this as a green light to get lifelong handouts. The Waleses believe negotiating under pressure sets a dangerous precedent.’
The insider says Prince William, 43, and his wife of 15 years, Kate, 44, are frustrated by the situation – especially when it comes to Charles’ track record for decision making.
Our sources say that the king is considering the offer ©Jonathan Brady – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Though the Palace has distanced the King from adding to the overall payout, he was rumoured to have contributed £1.5m to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s 2022 out-of-court, up-to-£12m settlement to Virginia Giuffre following her civil sexual assault lawsuit.
It’s also been alleged that Charles promised to look after Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, in return for his disgraced brother packing his bags and moving out of Royal Lodge.
And the insider says of the Waleses, ‘It’s especially triggering for William, because he spent years trying to push Charles to get tough with Andrew. Now the Waleses think Charles will make the same mistake again – and they’re trying to steer him from letting the Yorks’ disgraceful behaviour cause further damage to the monarchy. But Charles won’t be told what to do by William and Kate – if anything, it’s causing him to dig his heels in.’
Both Sarah and ex-husband Andrew brought disgrace on his family due to their involvement with late convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
The Walses are not on-board with the demands, according to insiders ©Danny Lawson – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Though he strongly denies all allegations, Andrew gave up his HRH title shortly before settling Virginia’s civil sexual assault case – and his ‘prince’ title was stripped just a month later.
On 19 February – his 66th birthday – he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, after the police said they were assessing a complaint over his alleged sharing of confidential material with multi-millionaire financier Epstein during his time as trade envoy for the UK. He was released under investigation the same day.
Reports say police are looking into an allegation that Andrew behaved inappropriately towards a woman at Royal Ascot in 2002 – so more bombshells may be brewing. And Fergie also found herself in hot water when 2011 correspondence showed she branded Epstein – who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges – her ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’.
Now touting her book deal, it’s been rumoured Sarah could sit down with TV host Oprah Winfrey to tell her ‘side’ of the story. Reports also suggest she could land a £1.3 million TV documentary deal about her life – which would aid her well-documented money woes.
In a candid interview from 1996, the former royal – who previously spoke about trying injections and slimming pills in South America – revealed, ‘My bulimia, my addiction, my alcoholism, my whatever, was I overspent. I’ve wrecked my reputation.’
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And now a second source explains, ‘Sarah’s acknowledged her compulsive need to fill emotional holes with spending. She’s admitted that her judgement has often been terrible, and she believes there were periods where she genuinely wasn’t mentally stable.
‘She looks back and can’t believe the decisions she made. She’s deeply ashamed of the Epstein connection – but it was driven by her need for money.’
Once dubbed the ‘Duchess of Excess’, Fergie apparently paid £65,000 to have a personal trainer on permanent standby; allegedly ran up £51,000 at Selfridges; and would regularly miss non-refundable flights – usually paying ‘between £800 and £4,000 in excess baggage’ for those she did board.
Previously enjoying luxury yacht holidays and rubbing shoulders with A-listers such as Priscilla Presley, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, she’s currently residing in a £2,000-a-night chalet at a luxury Alpine ski resort – apparently funded by her daughters.
Yet for all her faults, the source adds that some members of the family can’t help but feel concerned about her.
‘Some inside the family viewed Sarah like a whirlwind –chaotic, impulsive, but not fundamentally cruel,’ they add. ‘There was a feeling that Sarah wasn’t entirely equipped to cope with royal life – people often ended up feeling sorry for her. There’s sympathy for Sarah, but also frustration because the scandals never seem to stop. She’s very fragile at the moment, and people close to her are worried how much more she can cope with.’
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