Sarah Ferguson Finally Addresses Whether She’ll Remarry Prince Andrew or Not
This seems to be the final word on the matter, which has been speculated about since their 1996 divorce.
Sarah Ferguson is, as of this past year, a firm fixture at royal family events, it seems—from Christmas at Sandringham in December to Easter at St. George’s Chapel in March to, yesterday, Royal Ascot, where she turned up for day two of the annual event in a cream boucle jacket with a navy A-line skirt and a matching wide-brimmed hat, Hello reports.
Ferguson and her eldest daughter, Beatrice, were on hand for Royal Ascot on Wednesday.
Ferguson married Prince Andrew on July 23, 1986, and became the Duchess of York; two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, followed before their 1992 separation and, ultimately, their divorce in 1996. But, divorced though they are, Andrew and Fergie still live together—okay, in a 30-room mansion, Royal Lodge, but still—and have always had what might be best described as a nontraditional divorce, and certainly one that is far more friendly than one’s typical split.
But, let’s set the record straight: are they remarrying? Let’s have Fergie answer that herself. “I get asked that all the time,” she told Bella Magazine in an interview that came out this week. “We are very happy as we are now, thank you.”
The former couple at the royal family's Easter service at St. George's Chapel in March...
...and on their wedding day in 1986.
Reflecting on her love story, Ferguson admitted that her life “changed forever” when she married Andrew and joined the royal family. “Of course, being in the public eye constantly brings challenges, but also great privileges,” she told the publication. “I hope I have used whatever platform I have to bring about some good, particularly in terms of my charity work.”
As of late, Ferguson is using her platform to bring awareness to skin cancer, after she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma earlier this year. This latest diagnosis follows her diagnosis with an early form of breast cancer one year ago, in June 2023, for which she underwent surgery; as Us Weekly reports, “She was able to beat both health scares.”
“As I have got older, I have realized that you can’t expect to please all of the people all of the time,” she said. “When I walk into a room now, I accept that 50 percent may like me and 50 percent may not—and that’s just fine.”
Ferguson is still close to many members of the extended royal family, like Zara Tindall, Princess Anne's daughter, seen here with her at Royal Ascot yesterday.
Chatter has always followed the Duke and Duchess of York surrounding their unconventional manner of divorce. As far back as 2000, Andrew told Tatler of remaining friends that “We are not just doing it for the children,” he said of Beatrice and Eugenie, who would have then been roughly 12 and 10, respectively. “We are doing it for our own benefit, too.” He added, of getting married a second time, “I don’t rule remarriage out, and I certainly don’t rule it in,” he said. “If ever the opportunity arose, I do not know what I would do, as it is not in the plan.”
Royal expert Victoria Arbiter told GB News that “There’s long been speculation regarding whether or not Andrew and Fergie will remarry,” she said, per OK. “But their current situation seems to suit them both well, so why complicate things?” Arbiter added “Fergie’s previously said they’re the happiest divorced couple she knows, so there’s little to be gained by remarrying. They’ve always shown immense loyalty toward each other, and clearly their relationship works exactly as it is.”
After all, Ferguson herself said “We always say we are the most contented divorced couple in the world,” she said during a television appearance. “We’re divorced to each other, not from each other.”
Biographer Andrew Lownie said that Beatrice and Eugenie (and now their respective husbands and children) are a huge connection point: “The reason they are still living together is partly because they are still really good friends, and partly because they want to be good parents,” he said. “She, of course, gets all the benefits and status of being still connected to the royal family. She can live at Royal Lodge for free, and enjoy all the benefits of cooks and staff, which gives her a certain status that is very important to her in terms of earning a living.”
Ferguson, seen here at Cannes last month, has survived both breast cancer and skin cancer within one year's time.
According to royal biographer and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward, “Sarah must have talked to the Queen [the late Queen Elizabeth], and she must have said, ‘Please look after Andrew for me,’” she said. (Her late Majesty died in September 2022.) Confirming this, Fergie herself said on ITV’s Loose Women that she once had a poignant conversation with Queen Elizabeth: “I said to his mum before she died, ‘I will be there for him, I will help him on his journey,’” she said. “We’ve all got journeys—we just need to be there with kindness and no judgment.” Even amid all the scandal surrounding her ex-husband, Ferguson said she still considers him a “good man,” adding “We are longer divorced than married, and I believe in the three Cs: communicate, compromise, and compassion,” she said, per The Mirror. “That’s what I do with [Andrew].”
She added “We get on because, in the darkest time of my life, he was always there for me. In the darkest time of his life, I will be there for him.”
Ferguson confirmed that, though they remain close (and even live together), she will not be remarrying her ex-husband Andrew.
When Queen Elizabeth died at age 96 on September 8, 2022, custody of her corgis, Sandy and Muick, went to Andrew and Fergie; the pups were originally a present from the former couple and their daughters to Her Majesty. In her latest interview, Ferguson added that, just as she and Andrew are doing well, so are the dogs, and of the late Queen’s corgis, she told the outlet that they are “very happy.”
