Royal Expert Reveals How Sarah Ferguson’s Demands Fractured the Royal Household
Royal biographer Andrew Lownie revisits the behind-the-scenes issues that strained palace ties.
Sarah Ferguson’s turbulent relationship with the Royal Family has not been an overnight thing. Long before the most damaging headlines took hold, critics say the warning signs were already there, pretty subtle at first, then increasingly hard to ignore. According to royal biographer Andrew Lownie, a pattern of behavior gradually took shape, one that he believes exposed deep-rooted problems well before public scandal forced a reckoning.
Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, recently revisited those years during an appearance on a Sky News podcast. In his assessment, the former Duchess of York created “a whole series” of issues for the monarchy, not through one defining incident, but through repeated choices that blurred boundaries and tested goodwill.
“She began to take advantage of her position,” Lownie said, arguing that the shift was noticed not just by the press, but by palace courtiers too. As her profile grew, so did frustrations among staff. “She became less popular, not just with the press but with the palace staff,” he explained, pointing to three recurring problems that, in his view, defined her reputation behind the scenes. The first involved travel. Lownie claimed Sarah would attend trips linked to charities she supported, but extend her stays well beyond what was expected. The second centred on staff usage. “She would go and stay with people, and she would have staff there,” he said, suggesting royal resources followed her into private arrangements.
The third issue, he noted, may have seemed minor but carried weight. “She would come back late at night from parties and expect staff to rustle up a meal for her at midnight,” Lownie said. “Staff who had been working at six in the morning.” For palace employees already operating on punishing schedules, it fed a sense that privilege was being taken for granted.
These tensions played out against a backdrop of personal strain. At the time, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was serving in the Royal Navy, often returning home exhausted from his duties. “When he came back at weekends, he was tired, he wanted to play golf or watch TV, and she wanted to party,” Lownie said, describing the couple as “incompatible characters.”
That mismatch, he argued, only widened over time. The situation escalated dramatically in 1992 when photographs of Sarah with American financier John Bryan were published, showing the pair in an intimate moment by a swimming pool in France. The images became impossible to contain and deeply embarrassing for the Royal Family. Speaking on the same podcast in September 2025, Lownie said, “It was clear this was a sexual relationship, her children were there, and the Queen felt this didn't look very good.” The photographs, taken with a telephoto lens, showed Bryan kissing and sucking the Duchess’s toes and the arch of her foot.
Lownie said that episode was not just a mere sense of misjudgment. “She wanted the high-life, and I think she thought when she married Andrew she was going to get it,” he said. “When she found out it wasn't quite like that, she began to be attracted to people who could provide it.”
