What is Sarah Ferguson’s Net Worth? Her Financial Woes Explained

Sarah, Duchess of York, has had one of the most dramatic trajectories of all time as a member of the British Royal Family. When Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson first married Prince Andrew in 1986, the red-headed duchess enamored the entire royal family with her charm and enthusiasm. However, in the years following –feeling abandoned by her navy husband, the duchess soon found herself in the midst of several scandals.

In 1992, the duchess’ marriage collapsed when she was photographed topless with oil tycoon, John Bryan. Bryan was also sucking Fergie’s toes in the pictures. Though the couple did not officially divorce until 1996, the duchess was essentially exiled from the royal family as soon as those pictures hit the media. Unfortunately, due to her unhappiness during her marriage and her extravagant spending, Ferguson accumulated a huge amount of debt.

Fergie’s net worth

According to The Richest, as of 2018, Sarah Ferguson’s reported net worth is $1 million. Because Ferguson is still very close to her ex-husband Prince Andrew and the fact that her daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are worth about $5 million each — this number seems surprisingly low. So what happened to all of Fergie’s money.

Financial woes

Though Fergie grew up privileged, she did not bring in a lot of money to her marriage. Before she married, she was a working woman. She graduated from the Queen’s Secretarial College at 18. After school, she dove headfirst into the workforce finding positions at an art gallery, two public relations firms in London, and then a publishing company. When she and the prince wed — the duchess became a full time royal.

Throughout her marriage, Fergie garnered various deals as the first spokesperson for Weight Watchers, and significant success writing children’s books. However, her loneliness in her marriage drove her to spend lavishly on expensive items and vacations. When she and Prince Andrew finally went their separate ways, the Duchess was heavily in debt and was awarded a lump sum of £3 million and given a meager amount of just £15,000 a year as a divorce settlement.

Even more money issues

Though the duchess continued to work hard after her divorce, writing other various books including her autobiography, My Story: Sarah the Duchess of York, and starring in a mini-series on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network called, Finding Sarah, she had not yet gotten her spending under control. By 2010, Ferguson was $4 million in debt. In an act of desperation, she tried to broker a cash for access deal.

She was caught by an undercover journalist who offered her $500,000 for access to the royal family. She was seen pocketing $40,000 in cash on tape as a down payment. She issued a statement saying she was “sincerely sorry” for her actions and admitted that her finances had been under strain.  This incident put further strain on her relationship with the royal family who had slowly begun to embrace her once again.

Don’t call it a comeback

These days, the duchess seems to have recovered from her precious financial debacles. She’s focused heavily on her charity work including, Children in Crisis, which she started to help children in some of the world’s poorest countries gain access to education. To do this day, Ferguson credits the charity with saving her life. She’s also focused on her daughters and her relationship with Prince Andrew.