Following his recent settlement of sexual assault accusations, the Duchess of York has described her ex-husband Prince Andrew as a “kind and lovely man.”
Sarah Ferguson has denied living full-time in the Royal Lodge in Windsor with the Duke of York, where she spends time with him and their two girls.
She stated that she spends much of her time overseas performing charity work, but she stands behind Prince Andrew despite the recent blow to his reputation.
‘It’s a place where we are a united front with the girls,’ she stated in an interview with Times Radio. It’s their home.’
She stated that she believed should ‘clean your side of the street’ and act with integrity then once you’ve done that, then if anyone else has an issue, it is their issue .
‘I will stand very firmly by Andrew who is a very good and kind man,’ she said.
Prince Andrew, who has consistently denied sex assault allegations, has settled a civil case brought by Virginia Guiffre, who alleges she was forced to have sex with him three times when she was 17 and was the victim of a trafficking network run by millionaire paedophile Jeffry Epstein.
Ms Ferguson said she would marry him again if she could go back in time and do things differently when she was asked if she could marry him again.
‘It was an exceptional day, the 23rd of July 1986. I think my life is an amazing life. I think I’ve been very lucky. And I am now just beginning my life again. And I think it’s pretty cool to be able to say that.’
She also referred to her girls as “the tripod,” who “stay firm to speaking their truth.”
In an interview with Mariella Frostrup, she stated that she could not discuss Prince Andrew’s case due to legal concerns, but that she and her children had coped with difficult times by being there and talking a lot to one another.
She said, ‘I can say that I have done probably one of the greatest things of my life, being a mother, and a very good mother’. And the reason why is because I was abandoned by my mother at the age of 11.
‘And every time I look at my girls, I realise what the secret to good mothering is. Show up. That’s it. Show up and listen. You turn the telephone off, shut the door, turn the television off, and you say, “are you okay? Is it me? Have I annoyed you? What’s gone on?”
‘You know, and you really take away the fear factor because you’re so present with them. And I believe that’s the secret.’
She claimed Beatrice and Eugenie both had ‘great’ and ‘so good looking’ husbands, and she was happy to see them succeed.
When the conversation came to politics, she stated that she needed to stay ‘deeply apolitical, because otherwise it gets me in big trouble.’
When asked about the government’s proposal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, she stated that “the Rwandan people are so welcoming and full of hospitality.”
However, she believes that refugees should be spoken to and included in the discussion.
‘So I feel strongly that my answer has to be: “Are you sure everybody that you have listened to the needs of the person that displaced?”‘
The interview aired today at 2 p.m. on Times Radio.