Fergie and Andrew. Staying loyal to a royal
Could Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson be the most disastrous Royals in history?
As the controversy surrounding Andrew’s ties to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein becomes murkier still, the Royal’s former wife has taken a rather baffling stand.
Fergie, who has just turned 60, has always been a polarising figure – and yet again, when most women might be ashamed at their ex being accused of anything as serious as sexual assault and keep their heads down, she has decided to publicly declare her loyalty.
Prince Andrew is facing allegations that he slept with Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘sex slave’ Virginia Roberts when she was 17 – something he strongly denies. Paris detectives are probing claims that Andrew visited Epstein’s Parisian apartment – which contains a massage parlour – multiple times.
Fergie pointedly said: ‘I think the most important thing in life is familyhood,’ adding that the world needed more ‘ kindness’. ‘I think people should be much more supportive of young people.’
Many women, particularly mothers of daughters, will be shaking their heads at this. Why not stay silent?
The 60-year-old, mother of Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, clearly felt she had to respond to questions, in the midst of the growing scandal engulfing Epstein, the disgraced US billionaire who committed suicide in jail in August after being accused of underage sex offences and trafficking.
It’s well documented that Andrew was friends with him. And his ex-wife knew him, too.
Indeed, Fergie herself admitted to accepting a £15,000 loan from Epstein to help pay off a personal debt, something for which she later expressed regret.
Andrew confessed this year that it was a ‘mistake’ to meet Epstein in New York in 2011 after the billionaire’s prison release for child sex offences.
Fergie herself has made her fair share of gaffes – but one of the worst was in 1987, when she took part in a game show with Prince Edward, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew, wearing medieval outfits and completing charity challenges. It made lots of money but was branded a PR disaster.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams recently said Fergie’s involvement was a sign of things to come: ‘The It’s a Royal Knockout event became a byword for shameless vulgarity, with the Duchess of York revealed as a galumphing imbecile.’
Not long ago, the ex-couple’s eldest daughter Beatrice, 31, announced her engagement to Italian property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Yet, Fergie must surely be terrified that, walking his daughter down the aisle, the controversy surrounding the father of the bride could overshadow their firstborn’s fairytale romance.
Yet another utter PR disaster for the former couple?
‘I think people should be more supportive of young people’