Inside Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson's 'fractured' relationship 30 years after their divorce

The former Duke and Duchess of York lived under the same roof, went on holiday together and had nothing but good things to say about each other. "He's still my handsome prince; he'll always be my handsome prince. It's lovely that we are such a family and that the story has a happy ending all the time," Sarah once said.

Now, as they mark 30 years since their divorce, which was finalised on 30 May 1996, their relationship is in a very different place. Living apart for the first time in 18 years, they haven’t seen each other for months. Since they were forced to move out of Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion on the Windsor Estate that they shared until earlier this year, Andrew has been exiled to the modest Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. 

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Last week, it emerged that Andrew, who was arrested on his 66th birthday in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, is also being investigated in relation to potential sexual offences.

Thames Valley Police said that they had engaged with lawyers representing a woman who was taken to an address in Windsor in 2010 for sexual purposes and confirmed that if she wanted to report this to police, it would be taken seriously and handled with care. 

Them against the world 

Sarah, who is said to be moving between friends’ homes, was last spotted at a ski resort in Austria. The last time they were seen together in public was in September, at the funeral of Katharine, Duchess of Kent. Although they both attended the christening of their granddaughter Athena – Princess Beatrice’s youngest daughter – in December, they have been keeping a low profile following more damaging revelations about their friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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"The idea of them being the happiest divorced couple was always a bit of a myth," says the royal author Andrew Lownie, whose book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York lifts the lid on Andrew and Sarah’s downfall. "Sarah had her own set of apartments at the opposite end of the house, and although they did meet and speak on the phone, I don't think there was much contact. There was always this rather cynical idea that he was her calling-card for business and seeing members of the royal family. 

'The idea of them being the happiest divorced couple is a myth'

It’s all a far cry from the Yorks’ wedding day – 40 years ago this summer – when crowds gathered outside Westminster Abbey in London to watch the newlyweds leave in a horse-drawn carriage. By 1992, Andrew and Sarah, who were by then parents to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, had separated after Sarah’s affair with her financial adviser was exposed by a tabloid newspaper.

Nevertheless, the couple remained friends. Although both had other relationships – Sarah’s boyfriends included the Italian aristocrat Count Gaddo della Gherardesca, while Andrew dated women such as Lady Victoria Hervey, Amanda Staveley and Caroline Stanbury  – they still enjoyed family holidays with their daughters. “If you’ve been married to somebody, I see it as illogical not to be a friend at the end of the day, regardless of what your set of circumstances are,” Andrew once said.

A strange relationship 

"They seemed to get on better after they separated, perhaps because there was no obligation," says Ingrid Seward, the editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine. "It was a strange kind of relationship. When he phoned, she used to stand up and say: 'Yes, husband!' But I don’t think it was romantic. I don't know if Andrew wanted her back, but I think he never stopped loving her. There were photographs of her all over the house. He saw her as the mother of his children and he would always protect her, because he is very loyal to the people he cares about."

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Andrew Lownie says: "There were moments when he thought it would be nice to get back together for the sake of the children, but she didn’t want to. I think the romantic relationship fizzled out early on, but he did want to have this so-called happy family relationship. He thought it would be good for their daughters."

Ingrid says that Sarah grew bored and lonely in her marriage, and tired of Andrew’s boorish ways. "I remember her saying to me that 'he's an absolute poppet, but he's a dull poppet', and I kind of got what she meant," says Ingrid, who spent time at Sarah’s home both during and after her marriage. "He played golf all the time, or watched television, and he was away all the time with the Navy. I think she was bored rigid, and that drove her into the arms of other men.

'She was bored rigid'

Meanwhile, when Andrew was allegedly threatened by a balaclava-clad man while out walking his dogs recently, Sarah’s thoughts appear to have been for herself. "I understand that she was concerned and found it frightening, and that she was glad she was safe and out of the country, but her concern doesn’t seem to be about him; rather, it’s about the position related to her," Robert Jobson, author of The Windsor Legacy, tells HELLO!.

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In his book, Andrew Lownie describes the "profound alienation" that the former prince is feeling as he navigates his new life at Sandringham, where he reportedly spends his time riding horses and playing video games. Sarah, meanwhile, is said to be "sofa-surfing" with wealthy friends while she works out where she is going to live and how she will support herself. 

"I can't see any future in that relationship now," the royal author says. "I suspect they will end up living in different countries – him in the Middle East, her perhaps in Switzerland. She's made no public declaration of support for him in the way she used to do."

But Ingrid believes the bond that has tied Sarah and Andrew for all these years is too strong to sever entirely. "I’m sure they are still talking to each other because he's carried her through so much," she says. "They have so much in common: they both like money, they’re both irresponsible and they both live in a slight fantasy world of their own making. Perhaps they're destined to always be together. Apart, but together."