The very unusual coexistence of Sarah Ferguson with ex-husband, Prince Andrew | Royal | news

Sarah Ferguson may have finalized her divorce from Prince Andrew 28 years ago, but the couple still live together and remain close.

The Duchess of York, who celebrates her 65th birthday today, shares two daughters with the disgraced Duke, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

The former couple still live at Royal Lodge, despite Andrew’s latest spat with King Charles over their living arrangements, following their struggles with maintaining the 30-bedroom Windsor mansion.

Fergie, as she is known to family and friends, knew Andrew since they were children and ended up marrying him in 1986.

But they separated in 1991 and their divorce was finalized in 1996.

However, even after their split, the Duchess remained by Andrew’s side during and after the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, which forced him to step down from his royal duties in 2019.

In 2010, Sarah told US TV presenter Ernie Manouse: “My deal was that I would marry my man, who was a prince and a naval officer.

“But what I got wasn’t the man, I got the palace and I didn’t get him… and the courtiers told me I had to go to Buckingham Palace and he had to go to sea. For our marriage, I saw him 40 days a year.”

Andrew and Fergie first lived at Sunninghill Park in Ascot when they married, but moved to Royal Lodge in 2004.

The Duchess told the Sunday Times in 2021 how she considers Royal Lodge to be her UK base whenever she is in the country.

She said: “I travel a lot and I’ve always been able to go where I’m at home. If I stay in a hotel I have the same family photos and scented candles around me.

“When I’m in the UK I’m lucky enough to stay at the Royal Lodge. I wouldn’t call it my home as that would be presumptuous.”

Three years earlier, in 2018, she described to the Daily Mail how, despite having separate rooms on different sides of the mansion, they always have afternoon tea together.

She said: “We sit around the table and have afternoon tea together. It’s a very important part of our lives.

He also stressed how the family is still “united” despite what has happened.

She explained: “We are the happiest divorced couple in the world. We are divorced from each other, not from each other.

“My duty is to him. I am very proud of him. I stand by him and always will. Our way of being is our fairy tale. The Yorks are a close-knit family. We have proved it.”