Sarah Ferguson joined her ex-husband Prince Andrew in Windsor today, making her public appearance for the first time since the Queen’s passing.
The Duchess of York was seen this morning admiring flower tributes laid outside the palace in remembrance of the late King.
Both the Balmoral walkabout with her daughters earlier this week and the funeral procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Wednesday were missed by Fergie, a mother of two.
The Duchess, however, is said to have received an invitation to attend the burial on Monday.
Before the news of the royal’s passing broke on Thursday, she was last saw staring intently at her phone at the Venice airport.
Before they separated in 1992 and eventually got divorced in 1996, Fergie was married to the “favourite son” of the Queen for ten years.
She continued to live with the Duke at their Windsor residence, the Royal Lodge, and has made frequent mention of her admiration for the queen, her former mother-in-law, whom she referred to as her “biggest mentor.”
Following the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal, the 62-year-old recently swore to support the prince after he withdrew from active royal activities and had his military titles and patronages revoked.
The mother of two, who has two kids with Andrew—Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie—has been at the centre of a number of royal controversies over the years and chose not to attend Prince Philip’s burial or memorial ceremony.
Fergie has been living with the Duke of York for the last 13 years despite divorcing Andrew in 1996 after they divorced in 1992.
She does, however, no longer get along well with certain members of the royal family.
Famously, she had a falling out with the Duke of Edinburgh when she was seen getting her financial advisor’s toes sucked in the south of France five months after separating from Andrew.
Before he came, Philip had called the duchess “strange” and “pointless” and would even request that she leave Balmoral, the Scottish royal estate, when on vacation.
The Duchess was reportedly a “bag of nerves” when she first met Philip. Despite their well publicised conflict, the bride’s mother was forced to pose for pictures in Windsor Castle’s White Drawing Room behind the left shoulder of her former husband.
The COVID-19 epidemic prevented her from attending Prince Philip’s burial, and she also skipped her family’s memorial ceremony earlier this year.
While more than 1,500 people, including members of the Queen’s extended royal family, crowded into Westminster Abbey to remember the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duchess was conspicuously absent.
Despite her differences with Prince Philip, Sarah was well known to be much closer to the Queen. She is said to have provided assistance when the Duke passed away last April at the age of 99.
Since then, Fergie has been permitted to return to the fold in a limited way. In August of last year, she and her ex-husband visited the Queen in Balmoral in Scotland.
Prior visits by the Duchess to the Deeside castle had only lasted a few days before the Duke of Edinburgh joined the Queen.
The Queen, who had a soft spot for her former daughter-in-law, was reportedly more open to the idea of Sarah taking on a more significant role within the Firm following the Duke’s passing.
Following his removal from his military positions and favours, Fergie vowed to support her ex-husband, praising him as “very good and kind.”
After Andrew reached a sexual assault settlement with Virginia Giuffre earlier this year, she made the remarks in an interview with Iain Dale on LBC.
She went on to say that she was grateful that their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, “have got him” when talking about her first historical book, Her Heart For A Compass.
Ferguson responded, “He’s a very good and kind man,” when asked about keeping up a good relationship with Andrew after their divorce. He truly grasps the importance of building trust and communication with me.
We do speak to one another, but it’s tempered by compassion. I’ll be there for him. It’s a wonderful friendship that goes beyond co-parenting; it’s just genuine.
“I’m so glad the girls got [him]. They have the river running by, which is me, and he is very “this is how it’s done” and naval.
Fergie posted on social media after learning of the Queen’s passing: “I am heartbroken by Her Majesty the Queen’s passing.
She leaves behind a remarkable legacy, serving as a shining example of loyalty, steadfastness, and duty for more than 70 years while serving as our head of state.
She has dedicated her entire life to serving the Commonwealth and the people of the UK.
She was the most amazing mother-in-law and friend, in my opinion. I will always be appreciative of her kindness in choosing to stay in touch with me even after my divorce. More than words can say, I’ll miss her.
The Queen’s four children will hold another vigil this evening, and Andrew, who withdrew from performing front-line royal duties in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal, is expected to be granted a special dispensation to wear his military colours.
He will stand guard alongside King Charles, Princess Anne, and Prince Edward, as he did earlier this week at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.
As a “last mark of respect” for his mother, an exception was made so that the Duke of York could attend the vigil at Westminster Hall dressed in uniform.
The only military rank he still holds, Vice Admiral of the Navy, requires him to dress in full military regalia.
The senior royals are anticipated to repeat the formal act that they carried out in Edinburgh, where they stood “guard” over the coffin of their late mother for ten minutes.
As members of the royal cortège known as the “Vigil of the Princes,” they each stood on one of the four corners of the oak coffin with their heads bowed. Since 2002, the custom hadn’t been carried out before.
Such ceremonies have previously taken place in 2002 during the Queen Mother’s funeral and in 1936 in conjunction with the passing of King George V.
The four royal grandsons—King Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, and the Earl of Snowdon—were present at that vigil.