Meeting members of the royal family is a daunting prospect for most. And for Sarah Ferguson , her first introduction proved so nerve-wracking she ended up making a major blunder in front of the late Queen.
Fergie first officially met Queen Elizabeth II when she was invited to a shooting weekend at Sandringham House after she began dating then-Prince Andrew.
They were not total strangers; Sarah's father, Major Ronald Ferguson, managed the Guards Polo Club for Prince Philip, which meant Sarah occasionally crossed paths with the royal family and played tag with Andrew around the polo fields when they were children.
But she was then invited to the monarch's Norfolk estate as his partner - and it didn't exactly go to plan.
Royal author Ingrid Seward revealed all in the Channel 5 documentary When Fergie Met the Monarchy.
She said: "Sarah was invited to Sandringham for a shooting weekend because the Queen always believed that the only way her children are ever going to get to know anyone is to entertain them in one of the royal homes.
"Her own mother and father had been to Sandringham for shooting weekends and obviously they had told her what to do so she was not completely ignorant of how it was going to work, but she was very nervous."
© Tom Stoddart ArchiveIngrid continued: "When she walked into the double sitting room at Sandringham, she tripped over one of the Queen's corgis, she spilled her drink and then in her fluster, she just thought, 'who are all these people' so she just curtsied to everyone, because she knew that way she wasn’t making a faux pas."
Sarah's relationship with the Queen's beloved dogs did improve. She and her ex-husband Andrew inherited her last two beloved corgis, Muick and Sandy, following the monarch's passing in September 2022.
They are now living with Andrew at Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate following the former couple's eviction from Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Sarah 'not welcome' at Marsh Farm
Despite having previously described them as "the happiest divorced couple in the world", relations between Sarah and Andrew have reportedly fallen apart in light of the Epstein scandal.
The former couple both lost their major honours and titles following revelations about their ties to the convicted paedophile. They were also instructed to leave Royal Lodge.
© Getty ImagesAndrew, 66, now lives at Marsh Farm, a five-bedroom property on the King's Sandringham estate. And while it was thought that Sarah was keen to keep her distance from the ex-Prince, it seems the opposite is true.
A source has now told The Times: "The red setter, as she's known, is not welcome at Marsh Farm. She's persona non grata as far as Andrew is concerned."
It's not known why she has been exiled by her ex-husband, but the cache of Epstein documents released in the US appears to show it was Sarah who introduced Andrew to Epstein.
© UK Press via Getty ImagesThe source also refuted speculation that Andrew is wallowing in his own company. "Don't believe all that poor Andy [explicit]. He's having a very nice time, thank you very much. He goes out, he goes off shooting with friends, he sees his old chums who are very loyal to him. He's not sitting around feeling sorry for himself any more."
Sarah has received visits from 'embarrassed' Beatrice and Eugenie
Sarah does still have some support in the form of her two daughters, Princess Beatrice, 38, and Princess Eugenie, 36, however.
The ex-Duchess recently moved into a rented house in the Home Counties, outside of London, and has been visited by her girls, according to royal commentator Phil Dampier.
Speaking exclusively to HELLO!, he said: "Friends tell me they have both been to see her at her new house in the past couple of weeks. I don't think they want to be seen with her in public at the moment, and she probably realises it's not a good idea either, but behind the scenes they are talking and trying to be supportive."
Phil continued: "They're very embarrassed and are obviously sort of reevaluating their own lives and their own contacts and the things they get involved with because they don't want to be tainted by scandal. But I don't think the relationship is quite as close as it used to be, certainly.
"I think the days of them being the tripod and inseparable have been fragmented. They have grown up and gone their own ways a bit, and they've got their separate lives and separate families."
