The former Duchess of York has been rattled by the impending changes to her life, and is spending time at a bar behind Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, an insider has claimed
Sarah Ferguson is pouring her heart out to staff at a secret Windsor bar as she and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor count down their days at Royal Lodge.
The ex-Prince and his ex-wife have been ordered to vacate their home of 22 years by King Charles III and relocate to Sandringham after taking the pair’s titles in a new letters patent. The immediate and dramatic changes to their lives – made by the King due to the continuing fallout from his brother’s association with convicted paedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein – have left the two considering where their lives will go from here. Andrew has consistently denied sex allegations in the wake of the scandal.
Sarah is dealing with the interruption to her life by visiting a bar named The Doghouse, located behind the pair’s home in Windsor Great Park.
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Speaking to The Sun, a source said Andrew and Sarah have been “heard having some pretty intense conversations about what is going on”, with the latter royal left “panicking about what comes next”. She is “not in a good place” and “massively on edge” and pouring her heart out to friends and staff.
They said: “It is probably far-fetched but she is s***-scared and massively on edge. Luckily Sarah has quite a few staff left working for her who really like her, and she is really leaning on them for support.
“Sarah is spending quite a lot of evenings in The Doghouse, which is a purpose-built bar behind Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park. She drinks in there with friends and staff to escape from what is going on in her life generally. And while she is there, she takes advice on what to do next.”
Andrew and Sarah separated more than 30 years ago in 1992, and divorced in 1996, but have spent decades living together amicably at Royal Lodge.
While her ex-husband has been the primary target of the King’s orders due to continued fallout stemming from allegations that he had sex with Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre when she was a teen – allegations he has always vehemently denied – Sarah has also been caught in the spotlight on Andrew.
She was dropped as patron or ambassador by several charities in September when an email from 2011 revealed she had called Epstein a “supreme friend” and appeared to apologise for her past public criticism of him.
Speaking to the BBC, royal commentator Victoria Murphy said this has likely had the most significant impact of all the most recent changes. She said: “I think as far as Sarah is concerned, her own recent controversy involving the email she is said to have sent Epstein is what has had the biggest impact for her of late.
“Prior to that, she had sidestepped the firing line of the controversy around Epstein and I think may have continued to do so, albeit without calling herself Duchess of York, had that not happened.”
A spokesperson for the duchess said the message was written to counter the threat of a potential defamation lawsuit from Epstein while in reality genuinely regretting her association with the paedophile.
A spokesperson for the duchess said her subsequent email to Epstein, describing him as a friend, was written to counter a threat from him to sue her for defamation – and that she still really regretted any association with him. They said: “This email was sent in the context of advice the duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.”
Now, with nothing anchoring her to Sandringham, it has been theorised that Sarah will likely not spend much time at her new home.
