The Ban Is Lifted: King Charles Invited Sarah Ferguson Back to Royal Public Events, Ending Prince Philip's Bar on 'Scandalous' Ex-Duchess
King Charles III's invite to Sarah Ferguson to join royals for Christmas ends 32-year ban on ex-Duchess by Prince Philip.
Prince Philip's 32-year ban on Sarah Ferguson at major royal events ended when King Charles III invited his former sister-in-law to Sandringham House for Christmas.
"Sarah has always been close to the King [Charles] and is fond of him, and she has increasingly grown closer to the Queen [Camilla]," a palace insider told an outlet.
"She’s always been loyal to the family and has really not put a foot wrong in recent years. She’s never said a critical word and is always extremely loyal to the institution," they added.
"Fergie is really the glue that holds the Yorks together. She’s devoted to her girls and grandchildren, and lives with the duke day to day, and has seen him through this difficult period, which has been appreciated by the wider family," another royal source claimed.
In 1992, Ferguson and Prince Andrew separated after both found their growing incompatibility to be intolerable as husband and wife. Later that year, the Duchess of York underwent an embarrassing scandal that was blasted all over the world's newspapers when she was caught in a compromising position with her American love interest. Her suitor was photographed kissing her feet by a pool with toddlers, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, nearby.
Paparazzi claimed her partner was "sucking on her toes," which became a headline she has never quite lived down to this day.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, along with Ferguson, were all at Balmoral Castle in Scotland when the news broke. The former royal later shared how she came down to breakfast only to walk up on the monarch and consort reading the newspaper stories about the incident.
Philip, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 99, never forgave his former daughter-in-law for the scandal and forbade her to be at any royal event he was also set to attend, including Christmas at Sandringham. Before this year, her final year-end holiday at the Norfolk estate was in 1991.
But along with King Charles, Fergie's popularity is finding a newfound success thanks in part to her successful podcast, "Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah."
"She has come to an acceptance that 50 percent of people in a room might like her and 50 percent might not, but that won’t stop her from putting her head above the parapet," a source close to Ferguson dished.
They concluded: "Some people can shut the world out after [a cancer] diagnosis, but Sarah wanted to get something positive to come from it and she wants to show the importance of women being screened. Sarah’s in a great place now."
Powered by RedCircle
Page Six reported on the insider revelations.
