Andrew Didn’t Rule Out Remarriage Rumors With Sarah Ferguson ― but She Had Other Ideas
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor offered a carefully balanced response to remarriage rumors that left the door ajar without actually opening it.
For decades, the public has been deeply fascinated by the unconventional bond between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson. Even after their 1996 divorce, the former Duke and Duchess of York continued to share a roof at Royal Lodge — maintaining a domestic life that kept the rumor mill spinning for years. While the two have faced endless questions about a potential remarriage, the former Prince once provided an answer that was quite cryptic and non-committal. Royal author Andrew Lownie, who has written extensively on the House of York, revisited the former couple’s remarriage rumors in his biography, Entitled, by centering on a 12-page Tatler interview from June 2000.
When pressed on the possibility of a formal reconciliation with Fergie, Mountbatten-Windsor offered a carefully balanced response that left the door ajar without actually opening it. “I don’t rule remarriage out, and I certainly don’t rule it in,” the former Prince told the publication. It was the ultimate ‘never say never’ moment — one that kept royal watchers guessing for decades. He further muddied the waters by adding, “If ever the opportunity arose, I do not know what I would do, as it is not in the plan.”
Despite the vague nature of his comments, the public seized on the sliver of hope — with bookmakers immediately slashing the odds of a royal remarriage from 33-1 to 3-1. The sentiment was backed by a Daily Mail poll at the time, which revealed that nearly 90% of readers were rooting for the former Duke and Duchess to reunite officially, proving that despite the scandal-plagued years that followed, the public remained deeply invested in a second chance for the Yorks.
While Mountbatten-Windsor might have been keeping the door open, Ferguson seemed perfectly content to stay on the other side of it. Even as she remained the former Duke’s fiercest defender, the prospect of surrendering her hard-won independence for the strict protocol of the Firm was a non-starter. Lownie noted that one of Fergie’s friends was blunt about the possibility of a legal reunion, saying, “There is not a chance of her putting her head back into that lion’s cage.” Even if a remarriage wasn’t in the cards, she maintained in a 2018 Daily Mail interview that their relationship didn’t need a marriage license to be meaningful. “My duty is to him. I am so proud of him. I stand by him and always will,” Fergie said at the time.
For the former Duchess, their unique arrangement was a success in its own right. “The way we are is our fairy tale,” she explained. “Although we are not a couple, we really believe in each other.” While Mountbatten-Windsor’s cryptic remarks from decades ago kept the rumor mill churning, the plan for a formal reunion never materialized. Decades later, with the couple having stripped of their titles and Royal Lodge — the neither in nor out stance — remains the final word on one of the Crown’s most complicated romances.
