A new book about Prince Andrew and Fergie is set to be released, containing some explosive allegations about the pair, who have described themselves as the “happiest divorced couple”
A shocking new royal book about Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson is set to be released – and it contains some explosive allegations about the pair, who have described themselves as the “happiest divorced couple”.
The new book, ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the Yorks’ by Andrew Lownie, gives rare insight into the lives of both Andrew and his ex-wife Fergie, making it the first joint biography of the former couple, who still live together and are close friends.
The latest royal book, seen by The Mirror, explores Sarah’s 10-year marriage and beyond – from racking up millions of pounds in debt to flying halfway across the world in hopes of nabbing a date with a golfing legend. It comes after King Charles’ Balmoral Castle forced to close as warning issued in statement.
Frisky Fergie
The book details claims the York’s troubled marriage was riddled with infidelity, including Prince Andrew “slept with more than a dozen women” in the first year of his marriage to Sarah.
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The biography alleges Fergie wanted to be “The One” but enjoyed several affairs of her own with “reckless abandon”. Lownie details claims the York’s troubled marriage was riddled with infidelity. Within weeks of their lavish wedding in 1986, Fergie is said to have realised the marriage was a mistake as they had few mutual interests.
And, with Andrew regularly away on Navy duty, it has been claimed that she embarked on numerous flings. He allegedly told his new wife early on: “I am a prince, then a naval officer, then a husband.”
Lownie details claims from a former driver who worked for the couple that Andrew slept with more than 12 women before their first anniversary. The author also alleges Andrew has slept with more than 1,000 women in his life.
Huge debts
Sarah spent wildly on staff, holidays, parties and flowers, with no regard on settling bills during her marriage to Prince Andrew, it is alleged.
The Duchess, who was married to the disgraced Duke of York for a decade between 1986 and 1996, was bailed out on “several occasions” according to renowned historian Lownie, including one payment of £500,000 in April 1994 when the bank Coutts “demanded £500,000 within 14 days”.
Lownie claims Ferguson’s life as a member of the royal family was notable for being “marked by ambition and financial recklessness”.
The Duchess is alleged to have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on royal staff, renting foreign villas and demanding security for her two daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice. Lownie writes: “The bubbly young redhead was initially seen as a breath of fresh air when she married him in 1986, but her exploitation of her royal status to make money has seen her join her ex-husband as a hugely diminished figure.”
Despite a string of failed business ventures, often trading on her royal connections, including putting her name to a chain of retirement homes that went bankrupt, Ferguson reportedly had debts in excess of £3.7million by 1994.
Lownie states “she needed bank approval to pay even modest cheques. But even then, according to a member of her staff, she always believed there would be ‘a deal around the corner’ that would solve all her problems”.
According to the author behind several books on the royal family including Prince Philip’s uncle Lord Mountbatten and King Edward VIII, who famously abdicated after less than a year in 1936, Fergie became well known for running up huge bills on credit in stores such as Harrods and not paying.
Divorce regret
A series of alleged affairs on both Andrew and Fergie’s parts would ultimately end their marriage in 1992, with their divorce finalised four years later.
Despite their doomed romance, Fergie has long hinted at the fact that she would not discount the possibility of remarrying her ex-husband. However, one major royal stepped in to ensure the couple would not tie the knot once more.
Fergie gave a tell-all interview in 1999 to mark her 40th birthday, speaking candidly to The Times about the ups and downs of both her relationship and motherhood.
In the interview, Fergie maintained that the couple had “got divorced because I had to go out to work, and Andrew and I believed that it wasn’t right for me to be commercial while I was still in the Royal Family”.
Despite this, she also said that she had not ruled out remarrying Prince Andrew in the future, and also hinted at the fact that she was open to trying for a third child.
According to the biography, Prince Philip was determined to stop Andrew and Fergie marrying for a second time as he claimed the Duchess of York was “living in the land of Nod” and “a squalid public relations exercise”.
‘Opportunist’
Elsewhere in the book, author Lownie shared claims that Prince Philip was not a fan of Sarah from the beginning, as he wrote that the late Duke of Edinburgh thought Fergie was an opportunist.
A “well-connected” source of the author stated: “Fergie couldn’t stop talking – and inappropriately. She was all high jinks, jolly hockey sticks and practical jokes. Andy loved it, no one else did. The Queen said to someone, ‘Does that girl never stop talking!’ The Duke of Edinburgh just thought she was a girl on the make.”
Chasing Tiger
Fergie once flew 1,500 miles in an attempt to go on a date with golfing legend Tiger Woods. According to the royal author, she flew halfway around the world to pursue the “gorgeous” Tiger a year after her split from Andrew. Confiding in Piers Morgan before embarking on the ambitious journey, she even allegedly said she was “in love” with the athlete.
In the biography, which Lownie says is the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews, the author claims that Fergie was in a hot pursuit of famous potential lovers over the years.
She is said to have confided to broadcaster Morgan, telling him: “I’m in love.”
Morgan reportedly asked her: “Who’s the lucky guy?” to which Fergie replied: “He doesn’t know yet.”
Fergie then allegedly suggested she was going to “follow him around the course for a bit and see how I get on”. Morgan joked: “Poor old Tiger isn’t going to know what’s hit him.”
Morgan’s advice seemed to help Fergie, as rather than being seen as a romantic couple, the unlikely duo became good friends, with the Duchess seen supporting him at golf competitions.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
‘Entitled’ by Andrew Lownie (William Collins, £22), is due to be published on August 14.
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