Sarah Ferguson, who has long been said to have financial troubles, could find herself in possession of her ex-boyfriend's £600million fortune.
Paddy McNally, who was a multimillionaire racing tycoon, died earlier this week aged 88 after a prolonged illness. According to reports, Paddy had allowed Sarah to inhabit his £15million Swiss chalet following her and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's eviction from Royal Lodge this year.
Their expulsion resulted from the pair's friendship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
"Paddy always looked after Sarah, and at times over the past four decades she needed a lot of looking after," a source told The Sun.
© Getty Images"He never abandoned her in life and even in his final days allowed her safe sanctuary at his home in Verbier." Despite their 22-year age gap, Sarah and Paddy dated for many years before the former Duchess of York married the then Prince Andrew in 1986.
Pre-Andrew romance
The pair first met when Sarah went to work as a nanny for Paddy's two sons, Sean and Rollo, following the death of his wife Anne Downing, whom he had married in 1967.
Their romance came to a close three years later when the F1 mogul failed to propose after she gave him an ultimatum at the Italian Grand Prix.
© Getty ImagesPaddy remained a close aide of Sarah's in the years that followed, with her once referring to him as her "father figure".
A source told The Sun: "Paddy always looked after Sarah and at times over the past four decades she needed a lot of looking after. He never abandoned her in life and, even in his final days, he allowed her safe sanctuary at his home in Verbier."
Andrew Lownie, a recent biographer of Andrew, quoted Sarah said of her ex-boyfriend: "He taught me so much about life. Whenever I wanted advice, I turned to him because he was so worldly wise. He seemed to have seen and done everything."
A multimillionaire, Paddy made his fortune from running corporate hospitality and advertising hoardings on the F1 circuit. He sold his business, Allsport Management, in 2006 for £262m. At the time of his death, he was thought to have £600m. It is currently unclear whether the former Duchess of York will receive the amount as cash or in property.
