EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Ferguson ‘hasn’t abandoned’ Andrew and has ‘been laying false breadcrumbs’
Sarah Ferguson might have been spotted hiding out in Austria to avoid the Epstein scandal, but a royal expert claims there is no chance that Sarah has abandoned Andrew for good
Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have gone their separate ways – for now(Image: Getty)
Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have gone their separate ways for the first time in years, but they might not be as estranged as people think.
When Ferguson was spotted in an unnamed Austrian village last week, it was the first time anyone had seen the former duchess for over 200 days. Clearly trying to go unnoticed, she was pictured with her red hair tucked inside a baseball cap as she exited a blacked out car outside a ski chalet she is reported to be staying in – which costs £2,000 a night.
Until February, Sarah and Andrew shared the same home, Royal Lodge, but when King Charles forced his errant younger brother out of the lavish Windsor mansion over his connection to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and into a more modest property on the Sandringham Estate, it emerged that Ferguson would not be making the move with him. Despite being divorced for decades, the pair have always remained close, with Sarah long taking on the role of her ex-husband’s fiercest defender.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor pictured following his arrest(Image: REUTERS)
Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office on his 66th birthday on February 19, and was released pending further investigation while properties in Berkshire and Norfolk were searched. He has been holed up in Norfolk, barely going outside – reportedly on the orders of his big brother – and answering the door in his dressing gown to receive his weekly supermarket delivery, for months Ferguson has been nowhere to be found.
“She’s been laying false breadcrumbs to stop people following her trail, and very few people were allowed in on the secret,” a source told the Mirror. “But she’s seen Andrew arrested and read all the headlines about the Epstein investigations and knows it’s a very grave situation.
Mountbatten-Windsor has faced – and denied – claims that he had sex with Epstein trafficking victim Virginia Guiffre when she was 17. For Ferguson’s part, emails released by US Congress as part of the so-called Epstein Files appear to show her begging the late sex offender for money and offering him her support despite publicly denouncing him.
But despite their individual battles and public distance, one royal expert tells The Mirror that behind the scenes, it’s likely a different story. Duncan Larcombe, author of ‘Prince Harry: the Inside Story’ and former royal editor of the Sun, says: “My personal hunch is that it’s a public relations move. I don’t think she’s any nearer ditching Andrew than she ever was and her links to Epstein might have been different from Andrew’s but they were still strong. So in other words, it would be pretty… hypocritical if she just said, ‘oh how dare you be friends with a man like that’ when clearly she’s been a friend of the man like that.”
Larcombe notes how friends seem willing to stand by Ferguson and help her hide out on their sofas for free, in stark contrast to the radioactive Andrew, from whom everyone appears to be keeping a wide birth. “It’s interesting because you have to think of her ex-husband, Andrew, who it looks like the world and his wife are distancing themselves from him,” he says.
“I think it’s quite interesting to see that she’s still got wealthy friends that are prepared to step into the breach and help her out and I think that’s what these pictures expose more than anything. She had links to Epstein. She took money off Epstein. There are still huge question marks hanging over her head when it comes to her friendship with Epstein and yet once again she seems to be the freebie queen.”
A friend of Sarah’s has confirmed to the Mirror that pals have been ‘helping her’ during the ongoing scandal, and that she feels somewhat ‘abandoned’ by the House of Windsor, none of whom are said to have contacted her since King Charles stripped Andrew and Sarah of their royal titles and styles last autumn.
“Sarah is living in fear right now. She’s not immune to everything that is happening. She realises how serious everything is, and she is not coping with it.
“She is definitely worried about returning home to the UK and is relying on the kindness of friends to help her through the situation. But she knows she can’t keep moving around forever. Sarah feels she has been abandoned by the Royal Family and has been treated very unfairly. She is at a complete loss over what to do.”
Both Andrew and Sarah have been called upon to testify to the US House Oversight Committee about what they know about Epstein – but with neither US citizens, never of them are obliged to respond to the request, or appear to give evidence.
