As her ex-husband relinquishes his royal titles, Sarah Ferguson is “on the edge of a nervous breakdown,” royal correspondent Phil Dampier exclusively tells Woman’s Day.
“I’m told she has been on the edge of a nervous breakdown,” he revealed in his new Woman’s Day column. “I can reveal her older sister Jane has recently flown over from Australia to comfort her in the UK.”
He reveals how a friend of Sarah’s told him, “Sarah is in a bad way and it’s hardly surprising. She needed support and Jane has been there for her when she needed it. She and Andrew know they are to blame but they still feel they are now being kicked mercilessly when they are down. It’s difficult to see what the future holds.”
Sarah, 66, had gone by the title the Duchess of York since the pair divorced almost 30 years ago. Now, as Andrew loses his titles, she will also lose hers.
In his column, Phil also reveals how Andrew is keen to stay living at his mansion in Windsor, the Royal Lodge, but it’s unclear whether he will be able to afford it.
“He has a cast iron lease, but friends say he is running out of cash to pay for it,” he writes. “He will spend his days golfing, riding and doting on his grandchildren.”
Andrew, 65, released a statement on Friday evening UK time, confirming that he had given up all his royal titles.
“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” he said in the statement released by Buckingham Palace.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life. With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
The move comes just a few days before Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir is released. The book, includes claims alleging Andrew viewed sleeping with her as his “birthright” when she was just 17 years old.
Read Phil Dampier’s full column here.
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