Why Is Sarah Ferguson Still a Duchess After Her Divorce From Andrew?
Many remember Sarah Ferguson’s wedding to the former Prince Andrew in 1986 and many also remember her dramatic exit from the royal family because, well, who can forget that toe-sucking scandal. But more than two decades after their marriage ended, questions remained about why Andrew’s ex-wife was still a duchess.
On their wedding day, the couple received the title the Duke and Duchess of York but 10 years later, they divorced. So why did Ferguson get to keep that duchess following their divorce? Here’s the answer to that, and what title Fergie did lose upon the divorce.
Why Ferguson and Andrew got divorced
Andrew and Ferguson began to have marital problems just before the birth of their first daughter, Princess Beatrice, in 1988. Their issues had to do with his Naval career as Ferguson admitted that she spent her first pregnancy alone because he was always away. In 1990, they had another daughter, Princess Eugenie, but two years later announced that they were separating.
Following that announcement though, Fergie made headlines around the world when she was photographed sunbathing topless with her toes in the mouth of financial advisor John Bryan. Because she was still legally married to the prince at the time it was a huge embarrassment for the royal family and meant that the two really had no choice but to divorce. They did so in 1996.
What she got in her divorce settlement
The Sunday Telegraph reported that as part of her divorce settlement Fergie agreed to be paid $20,000 a year from the royal family and given $660,000 to buy a new house. In addition, she is said to have received around $1.8 million to start trust funds for Beatrice and Eugenie as well as another $462,000 in cash and an agreement that Prince Andrew would pay for their daughters’ education.
Before Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank were married in 2018, she and her sister lived in an apartment at St. James’s Palace where the yearly rent was $25,000 and that amount too was always covered by Andrew.
Fergie lost one title but remained a duchess
Following her divorce from Andrew, Ferguson was allowed to keep her Duchess of York title as was the custom but she also continued to use the style Her Royal Highness.
Within a few months, a letters patent regulating post-divorce royal titles was issued. It stated that Fergie could not use HRH anymore since she was no longer married to Andrew.
Update: Following the publication of this story, Andrew was stripped of his prince title and relinquished his Duke of York title, meaning Sarah is no longer the Duchess of York.
