Who Is Prince Andrew's Ex-Wife? All About Sarah Ferguson

Mar. 15, 2025

Prince AndrewandSarah Ferguson, who is affectionately known as Fergie, have quite an unconventional relationship. Although they’ve been divorced since 1996, the pair remain close and even live together at Windsor.

“We are the most extraordinary example of a unified family,” Fergie hassaid about her relationship with Prince Andrew. “He is the finest man in my life. He’s a great gentleman, and he’s got an essence of gold. He’s a nugget of goodness.”

Prince Andrew and Fergie wed in 1986 and received the titles of Duke and Duchess of York upon their marriage. They had two children,Princess BeatriceandPrincess Eugenie, before splitting in 1992.

Here’s a closer look at Sarah Ferguson and her relationship with Prince Andrew over the years.

She has known Prince Andrew since she was a toddler

Tim Graham Photo Library

Fergie and Prince Andrew first met when they were around 3 years old on the sidelines of a polo field, her parents told theWashington Postbefore their 1986 wedding. Fergie’s father, retired army major Ronald Ferguson, and Prince Andrew’s father,Prince Philip, played polo together when they were children — and her father was also the polo manager for Prince Andrew’s brother,King Charles.

Princess Diana set her up with Prince Andrew

=Tim Graham Photo Library

Princess Diana, who was Fergie’s best friend from the time they were teenagers, was the one to officially introduce her to Prince Andrew in the 1980s.

“I said to her, ‘Oh, Andrew’s really good-looking,’ " the Duchess toldPEOPLEin July 2021. “And she said, ‘Duh, Fergs!’ "

It was Princess Diana who then had Fergie added to the guest list of a June 1985 party that the Queen hosted during the week of the Royal Ascot, according to theWashington Post.

“We were made to sit next to each other,” Prince Andrew said in their engagement interview. “It was at Ascot, as it were, that the whole thing took off,” he added.

She wed Prince Andrew in 1986

John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty

“We married for total love. And when I went up that aisle, I had — I married my man,” she told Piers Morgan in 2011.

She and Prince Andrew have two daughters

Tim Ockenden - PA Images/PA Images

Fergie and Prince Andrew welcomed their first child, daughterPrincess Beatrice, in August 1988. Their second child, daughterPrincess Eugenie, followed 19 months later in March 1990.

“Every day I thank the universe for allowing me to be your mother,” Fergie wrote in anopen letterto herdaughtersin 2021. “You have always been the blood in my veins. From the time you were wee tots, you made my life complete. I look at how full of humility, laughter and joy you are in your hearts, and I marvel at you both.”

She toldPEOPLEexclusively the same year: “I’m self-deprecating and British. But [one thing] is I’m a really good mom.”

She and Prince Andrew separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996

Julian Parker/UK Press

After nearly six years of marriage, Fergie and Prince Andrew legally separated in March 1992, with Fergie citing the demands of Prince Andrew’s naval career as a primary cause. According to an interview withHarper’s Bazaar, Fergierevealedthat they only saw each other 40 days out of the year during the first five years of their marriage.

The couple laterdivorcedin 1996 so that Fergie could have a career.

“I didn’t want adivorcebut had to because of circumstance,” she toldHarper’s Bazaar.“I wanted to work; it’s not right for a princess of the royal house to be commercial, so Andrew and I decided to make the divorce official so I could go off and get a job.”

They’re amicable exes

Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/Getty

Though Fergie and Prince Andrew have been separated for nearly three decades, the pair have remained close friends over the years. They raised Eugenie and Beatrice together, and Fergiecontinued to live in the family’s home— the Royal Lodge at Windsor — following their split. The former couple eventook a trip togetherwith their daughter Beatrice in 2019 to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“They are the best divorced couple I know,” Eugenie famously told the BBC about her parents' relationship.

Fergie alsospoke in supportof her ex during thefalloutfromVirginia Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuitagainst him andhis ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Andrew is a true and real gentleman and is stoically steadfast to not only his duty but also his kindness and goodness of always seeing the best in people,” she wrote on Instagram in 2019.

She continued, “I am deeply supportive and proud of this giant of a principled man, that dares to put his shoulder to the wind and stands firm with his sense of honour and truth.”

In April 2023, Fergie toldGood Morning Britainthat she hopes Prince Andrew will have the opportunity to rebuild his life without all the public scrutiny.

“Prince Andrew, he’s such a good man,” she said. “He’s a kind, good man, and I thinkthe spotlight needs to come off of himand let him get on with his life to rebuild.”

She’s a grandmother

Princess Beatrice, Sarah Ferguson and Princess Eugenie.Dave Benett/Getty Images

Fergiebecame a grandmotherfor the first time when her daughter,Princess Eugenie, welcomed a son namedAugust Philip Hawke Brooksbankin February 2021 with husband Jack Brooksbank.

Seven months later, in September 2021,Princess Beatricegave birth to a daughter namedSienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi.

On Jan 24, 2023, Eugenie announced she wasexpecting her second child. Fergie celebrated the news with asweet Instagram postofAugust playing in puddles, calling the announcement “Superb news.” The following day, the Duchess posteda photoof herself hugging Eugenie with the caption, “So happy for my girlie.”

Eugenie’s second son,Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank, was born on May 30, 2023. Another grandchild joined the family over a year later when Beatrice welcomed her second daughter,Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi.

“My children are phenomenal mothers,” shesaid at aHello!magazine eventin October 2021. “They were great children, but now they’re phenomenal mothers. And now, I have these two exceptional grandchildren all in one year.”

She’s a published author

Stephen Lovekin/WireImage

The Duchess of York has written more than 60 books, including children’s stories (such as theBudgie the Little HelicopterandLittle Redseries), two nonfiction works about Queen Victoria and a memoir. One of her most recent forays was into the world of romance literature:Her Heart for a Compass, a fictionalized coming-of-age story about one of her ancestors, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott, was published in August 2021.

“I’ve written this book because it’s about women’s empowerment and being strong enough to stand up and be counted,” Fergie told PEOPLE. “With each line and each chapter, I was in search of my own heart.”

She started her own charities

Princess Eugenie Instagram

In 2020, the Duchess of York also launched Sarah’s Trust, an organization that works to connect philanthropists with charities in need.

“It has certainly made me a better mother to my daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, giving me a sense of perspective, and allowing me to encourage them to use the platform they have to get involved in charitable work,” the Duchess of Yorkwrote about her charitable workin 2018.

Queen Elizabeth was her “greatest mentor”

Queen Elizabeth and Sarah Ferguson.Tim Graham Photo Library

Fergiemaintained a close relationshipwith her former mother-in-law, the lateQueen Elizabeth, calling her “the person who believes in me” and her “greatest mentor.”

“I think to myself that honestly, my mother-in-law has been more of a mother to me than my mother,” she told theTea with Twiggypodcast in August 2021. “I absolutely admire the incredible way Her Majesty is so modern … and how flexible, and how understanding, and how forgiving and how generous.”

“To me, she was the most incredible mother-in-law and friend. I will always be grateful to her for the generosity she showed me in remaining close to me even after my divorce,” Fergie said candidly. “I will miss her more than words can express.”

Fergie attendedQueen Elizabeth’s funeral on Sept. 19, 2022. She arrived alongside members of the royal family, however she was not part of the procession.

Fergiespoke fondly of the Queen’s memoryagain in March 2023. “She was so brilliant at putting you at ease. She had the most incredible faith of any single person I’ve ever met,” the Duchess of York told PEOPLE. “She just knew what to do. She knew how to make people feel good. She never took it onboard as about her. It’s about the monarchy, about making someone feel good. She was my total idol.”

She and Prince Andrew adopted Queen Elizabeth’s corgis

Sarah Ferguson/Instagram

In October 2022, Ferguson was quoted sayingit is “a big honor” to look after the corgis and that the dogs are “national treasures” who have “been taught well.”

While Fergiecalls the corgis “total joys,“she’s admitted that caring for them comes with a unique challenge. “They are national icons, so every time they run chasing a squirrel, I panic,” she told PEOPLE.

She was close friends with Lisa Marie Presley

Sarah Ferguson and Lisa Marie Presley.Sarah Ferguson Instagram

Ferguson andLisa Marie Presleyare believed to have met in 2009 and quicklybecame friends.

The two women were so close that the Duchess of York spoke at Presley’s Jan. 22, 2023, funeral at the Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. “Sissy this is for you with affection,” Ferguson said. “My late mother-in-law used to say that nothing [that] can be said can begin to take away the anguish and the pain of these moments, because grief is the price we pay for love. And how right she was.”

She previously posted aboutPresley’s death on Instagram, honoring her with a photo of the two friends smiling.

“You were my sissy, an amazing mother to Ben, Riley, Harper and Finley and a superbly loving daughter to Priscilla,” the Duchess wrote. “You have been my devoted friend for many years and I am here for your family to support and love them.”

She didn’t attend King Charles' crowning ceremony in May 2023

Sarah Ferguson and King Charles.Jo Hale/WireImage, CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty

Fergiewas not invited to King Charles and Queen Camilla’s crowning ceremonyat Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023. However, she joined the royal family at theCoronation Concert, with performances fromLionel RichieandKaty Perry, on the grounds of Windsor Castle the following day.

Days after the event, Fergie posted aphoto on Instagram of herself at the Coronation Concert. In the snap, the Duchess of York smiled with Eugenie and Beatrice. “I felt so lucky to have been invited and included in what was a mesmeric concert, and magical performances,” she wrote in the caption. “To enjoy it all together was such an honour and I am deeply grateful.”

“I personally will be having a little tearoom and coronation chicken sandwich and putting out the bunting, that’s what I’m going to be doing,” she said of her coronation day plans. “Because that would make me very happy.”

She was diagnosed with cancer twice

In June 2023, a representative for Fergie told PEOPLE that the Duchess of York was “recently diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer detected at a routine mammogram screening.” The source added that she was advised to undergo surgery, which had already successfully occurred at the time of the announcement.

The royalopened up about her diagnosison an episode of her podcast,Tea Talks With The Duchess and Sarah, which was recorded the day before her successful mastectomy operation. In the episode, Fergie recalled how her sister Jane encouraged her to do the screening.

“It was after bank holiday, and I live in this area — in the Windsor area — and it was a hot day and I didn’t feel like going to London. It’s easy to put it off — ‘I’ll do it next week,’ " the Duchess of York said. “My sister, who’s wonderful from Australia, I always normally do what she says because she gets so cranky. She said, ‘No — go. I need you to go. I need you to go.’ "

“Thank you, Jane,” Fergie added. “I think it’s so important you do talk about it.”

In January 2024, Fergie announced that she had beendiagnosed with skin cancer. According to her spokesperson, Fergie had several moles removed and analyzed while undergoing reconstructive surgery following her mastectomy. One of the moles was found to be cancerous.

“Clearly, another diagnosis so soon after treatment for breast cancer has been distressing, but the Duchess remains in good spirits,” the rep told PEOPLE.

Fergie’s family, specifically her daughters, is “rallying ‘round” the Duchess amid her healing journey.

source: people.com