Rubble of a royal marriage... Andrew and Fergie’s home
IT was the last remaining symbol of Prince Andrew’s failed marriage to Sarah Ferguson.
But now their former marital home, Sunninghill Park, has been demolished and work is beginning on an even bigger property at the site.
Aerial pictures show the wasteland where the 12-bedroom mansion in Ascot, Berkshire, once stood.
The Queen had the original house built for the Duke and Duchess of York as a present for their 1986 wedding, but their marriage ended in 1996.
The Duchess of York and daughters Beatrice and Eugenie continued to live there, eventually moving out a decade later. Billionaire Kazakh oil and banking magnate Timur Kulibayev then bought the mansion for £15million in 2007 and now plans to build a ‘manor house’ over a third larger than the original.
It will include a master suite, six bedrooms – several with balconies – and eight separate bedrooms for staff, according to the plans.
There will also be two dining rooms, a study, sitting rooms for children and a master suite.
A 25metre indoor swimming pool with a glass balustrade will replace the current outdoor pool. The house will have landscaped gardens, including a wild woodland area or orchard.
The original mansion had been nicknamed Southyork for its resemblance to Southfork in Eighties TV soap Dallas. But while the property has been demolished, questions surrounding its sale continue. Mr Kulibayev paid £3million over the asking price in 2007, despite the fact it had languished on the market for more than five years.
Rather than being done up, the former royal property was then allowed to sit, empty and decaying for more than eight years until work tearing it down started two years ago.