Fergie ‘won’t be shrinking away from limelight’
PrINCE andrew may have been stripped of his royal Highness title, but his exwife, Sarah Ferguson, will remain a duchess.
Friends made clear last night that she will continue to be known as Sarah, Duchess of york despite her former husband being cast out of the royal Family.
‘That has been her title since their divorce and that is how it will stay,’ one of her associates told the Daily Mail. ‘andrew is still the Duke of york, so it is not an issue.’
andrew became Duke of york, a title traditionally granted to the monarch’s second son, on his marriage to Fergie in 1986.
It is a title of particular significance as it was held by both the Queen’s father, George VI, and her grandfather, George V.
The duchess, 62, is allowed to continue styling herself as Sarah, Duchess of york until she marries someone else, at which point she would lose her title.
The couple’s daughters, Her royal Highness Princess Beatrice and HrH Princess Eugenie, will keep their Princess and royal Highness titles. although they tend to be known as Beatrice and Eugenie york in their professional lives, their royal titles are always used in official bulletins such as the Court Circular.
Sarah Ferguson’s Twitter identity is SarahTheDuchess and she has often used her title on the cover of books she’s written.
She has also frequently been styled Sarah, Duchess of york while promoting her books and other products around the world.
another of her friends said: ‘Sarah has absolutely no intention of shrinking away from the limelight. Why should she?
‘She and her daughters have done nothing wrong and they believe andrew 100 per cent that he has done nothing wrong either.’
Despite divorcing in 1996, Sarah and andrew are so close that they share royal Lodge, the Queen Mother’s former home, on the Windsor estate, and regularly visit the Queen together at Windsor Castle.
In 2014, they spent about £13 million on a chalet in the upmarket
‘She has done nothing wrong’
Swiss ski resort of Verbier with both of their names on the deeds.
andrew faces growing calls for him to lose or relinquish his Duke of york title from those in the city.
york Central MP rachael Maskell said it was ‘untenable’ for him ‘to cling on’ to his duke title and his association with the city. ‘This association with york must end.’
andrew gave up several patronages in york and yorkshire after ‘stepping back’ from royal duties in 2019.
a spokesman for the duchess declined to comment.