Fergie’s new executive role schmoozing the Chinese

There was fresh embarrassment for sarah, Duchess of York, earlier this year when it emerged she was conducting her business affairs in a hotel bar under the pseudonym Margaret York.

sarah ferguson, 57, held court at London’s Lanesborough Hotel, drumming up support for her myriad ventures over bottles of champagne.

after her alter- ego was exposed, fergie kept her professional head down. But now she is having another brave stab at being an entrepreneur and has got a new job as executive director with Gate Ventures, a media and entertainment company.

she was appointed to the board this week to boost the company’s image abroad.

The company’s CEO is Geoff Morrow (a former songwriter who penned can’t smile Without You for Barry Manilow), and it makes investments in the UK and the chinese performing arts sector. One of its early stakes was in Michael Grade’s West end production of 42nd street. The company has had a rollercoaster ride since its launch in 2015. at one stage its shares were suspended after unidentified asian investors climbed on board.

The enterprising Duchess has taken on a host of business ventures since her divorce from Prince andrew in 1996 by cashing in on her royal connections. These include endorsing an afternoon tea range and selling a food blender through her Duchess Discoveries website and a lucrative U.s. Weight-Watchers deal.

fergie has been tidying up her business affairs in recent months. she corrected company records for La Luna Investments and strawbugs Ltd so that sarah, Duchess of York, not the fictional Margaret, is listed as a director.

at the same time, she cleared up confusion over her directorships of two other companies, fergie’s farm and tea business Ginger & Moss.

Both listed her as HRH sarah ferguson — even though she was stripped of her title in 1996, almost 20 years before both businesses were set up.