Sarah, Duchess of York: "Cash for Access" - May 2010


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I watched the video; Sarah really seems to have lost control of herself. She was quite possibly drunk, what with the slurred speech and all. She looked beyond cheap, smoking that cigarette, surrounded by cash, and talking on about her being able to get that "businessman" close to Andrew. It reeked of desperation. As a mother, I cannot for the life of me figure out why she would do something so humuliating to her daughters. I suppose she felt that she was "safe". I've stated it many times, that I believe her to be money hungry and always using her connections and her daughters to keep herself in the limelight. It is sad, really. She has sunk to her lowest.
But, this does a raise a question, at least from me. If she has been willing to make money off of Andrew, has she been doing the same with her daughters? Cueing certain trusted photogs about their whereabouts, etc...? I would hate to think she would do it, but at this point it would not surprise me.
Shameful Sarah.
 
Remarriage might work as they could keep her on a very short leash and control who she sees but Andrew would need to be doing something else as well. Maybe give the Special Trade job to Edward and have Andrew work closer to home with charities helping servicemen injured in Afghanistan or something.

Then again find him a job in the Falklands for a while and send her and Andrew there for a couple of years.:lol:
 
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What does the family do now? Good question.

If they hug her more tightly to keep her in check (i.e. bigger allowance,) then they are rewarding her recklessness.

If Andrew remarries her to shut her mouth, then the public will see that the BRF continues to use their Royal allowance to advance only their own causes.

I know of a Royal ex-wife in the same generation who was rather saucy and who ended up not talking much any more at all. And even she, much villified she, never whored out her ex-husband for pay.

I really thought Sarah was a messy success. She "did it" the hard way, but by God she did it. Pulled herself out of unspeakable debt, raised two rather level headed girls, and built a life of her own. Well, she did do those things, but on whose dime, and on what terms?

It seems from the press reports that there is mounting evidence that is not her first time at this drinking fountain. If that is true, then she truly must be trembling in these hours, wonder now - that the dam has broken - what else is waiting to burst.
 
Why couldn't Sarah just get on with her life like Countess Alexandra did following her divorce from Prince Joachim? You don't see her going around and selling access to the Danish royal family for $500,000.
 
I agree the Countess has been doing great after her divorce. Sarah is so self-destructive, its sad. If she could got a cottage and allowance from the queen it could serve her best interest.
 
I think Prince Philip will have a big say so if there is ANY talk of remarriage and I believe that hell will freeze over first before anything such as that will happen.
Now, how can PA actually trust her when she is so very willing to sell out--yet again?? Remember she sold out for Steve Wyatt on an oil deal to get what she wanted--which at that time was some form of human comfort.
Sarah's an idiot and no role model. :nonono:
 
I don't think Prince Philip would want Andrew and Sarah to remarry, either. I doubt even Andrew wants to remarry Sarah right now. But I do find it interesting that no matter whether Sarah is divorced from Andrew or married to him, she brings the royal family the same amount of bad publicity. I would be surprised if no one in the royal family had occasionally wondered if it wouldn't have been better, in the long run, for Andrew and Sarah to have remained married. Sarah wanted the divorce because she thought it would give her freedom. But right now she doesn't have very much "freedom" of any kind, and the financial security of life in the royal family probably looks good to her now by comparison.
 
This woman proves time and time again to be a disgrace to both herself and the entire Royal family. Why of why is she allowed to continue to fashion herself The Duchess of York??! I realize that she was allowed to retain the title initially in the divorce but I think that was mostly for the Princesses sake. Now that the girls are grown, and their Mother continues to make a mockery of her "ties" to the Royal family, it is time to take her privilege of title away.
 
I like the Nunnery idea!

Well, after noticing that articles are popping up everywhere about this, I am feeling a bit sad for Fergie. I think because I had hoped that her and Andrew would remarry and live a quiet royal life into old age. I really think Sarah has snapped the tether this time. There is no going back after this, she has showed a serious lapse of character this time. She could easily be selling access to her daughters and that thought does not settle well.

I do like Fergie, still do. But I think its time she settle in a wee old cottage in the country and let herself be an old lady. I don't know if I see her and Andrew getting back together now, well at least not for a long time. Though I don't think Andrew is as "innocent" as he is being made out to be. I think Fergie has just agreed to take all the blame, I do hope this will turn out all for the best though.
 
Amid all of this one can't help but wonder what affect this will have on both of the princesses and the relationship between them, their mother and other members of the BRF.
 
This woman proves time and time again to be a disgrace to both herself and the entire Royal family. Why of why is she allowed to continue to fashion herself The Duchess of York??! I realize that she was allowed to retain the title initially in the divorce but I think that was mostly for the Princesses sake. Now that the girls are grown, and their Mother continues to make a mockery of her "ties" to the Royal family, it is time to take her privilege of title away.


It is NOT a title but a style and is the same one that every divorced wife of a peer is entitled to so the divorced wife of the Duke of xxxx would still be able to style herself yyy, Duchess of xxx and Sarah is no different.

She did lose the HRH at the time of the divorce and rightly so as the HRH came with the marriage and left with the marriage. The same thing happened with Diana - she lost the HRH but retained the right to style herself Diana, Princess of Wales (not Princess Diana - a style and a title to which she was never entitled).

As a divorced woman she has a couple of options - her maiden name,
Sarah Ferguson (which a lot of people still use anyway), Mrs Sarah Mountbatten-Windsor or Sarah, Duchess of York. Like any other divorced woman these are her options.

The Queen can't take away her right to be Sarah, Duchess of York. She can request that she not use it but she can't take away that right. The government could legislate but that would mean redefining the styles that divorced woman can use i.e. force all divorced women to return to their maiden names.
 
If the Queen "requested", Sarah would drop the title immediately. I am afraid she has been an embarassment to the royal family from the very beginning. I don´t like her and I
don´t dislike her, I don´t know her, but she has no sense whatsoever. I have just read one of the Starkie books and it shows clearly that she has no money sense whatsoever. Her group had an emergency meeting about shortage of money and huge debts and the outcome was that she took on two extra staff to see if they could sort it out and they only made it worse as well as costing her extra money for wages when she was supposed to be reducting staff.
She has been walking on a high wire ever since her divorce but this time she may have gone too far. The royal family have been wonderfully tolerant but now she seems to be bringing Prince Andrew into it, whether true or not, there will always be doubts as to whether he knew or not.
I would feel sorry for her but she just won´t learn and if she is "asked" not to use, Duchess of York that means most of her income will go down the drain.
The only surprise in this is how good the royal family have been to her, but then that is probably because of her daughters. I only hope that the tendency they, the daughters, had of appearing bleary eyed after night clubbing has stopped and they will both study hard and have a career and make good happy marriages as I am afraid their mother will always be at the back of people´s minds whenever they make even the smallest mistake. It is not fair, but that
won´t make any difference.
In a way I feel "poor Sarah" but then I find myself thinking "poor foolish Sarah".
Starkie´s description of her committment to her charities is interesting too, and a little different from the general public´s opinion, but then he was with her all the time and saw everything first hand and took part in most of her ventures until.... Well it is an eye opener to read his book "Fergie, Her Secret Life".
 
Duchess of York attempts to brush off scandal at Hollywood charity event - Telegraph

The Duchess of York has attempted to brush off the scandal surrounding her, telling a Hollywood charity reception: "I've had a heavy day."

After being filmed apparently offering to sell access to her former husband Prince Andrew for £500,000 the Duchess flew to the United States to pick up an award from the Variety charity for her work with underprivileged children.
 
saying she had had a heavy day is a good way of expressing it I think but:... "I learnt today about making a difference. Most importantly I learned I hate grown-ups and I love children."...

I think she could have dropped the bit about hating grown-ups, there is no one to blame but herself and she still needs in her middle age a lot of growing up herself.
 
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If the Queen "requested", Sarah would drop the title immediately. I am afraid she has been an embarassment to the royal family from the very beginning.


It is NOT a title.

It is her surname. She is either Sarah, Duchess of York or Mrs Mountbatten-Windsor. Either way she will clearly be connected to the royal family as she has a name that is associated with them either way and she will always be the mother of the Princesses.
 
Fergie faces losing royal home after being caught offering access to Prince Andrew for £500,000 | Mail Online

The Duchess of York has offered to quit Prince Andrew's royal residence after she was exposed offering access to him for £500,000.
The prince last night arrived back from a visit to Singapore for crisis talks with the Queen on how to minimise the damage
I do hope she will lose the title Duchess of York this time. She shouldn't be allowed to carry it anymore, she doesn't deserve it.
She does not hold ANY TITLE. It is a style. Doesn't mean anything.
They cannot force her to go into exile, and why should Beatrice and Eugenie suffer when they have done nothing wrong?
They cannot loose there titles now, their children will most likely only be Lords and Lady Windsor, just like Harry's unfortunately will.
What she going to go on trial for? Speaking to a journalist?
 
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Fergie exposed, again :eek: Will she ever stop embarrassing herself and the royal family? Disgusting.
 
I really can't help but feel for her in a way. The cirumstances and options in her life that have lead to this (whether in her control or otherwise) have clearly taken their toll. I wouldn't excuse her actions, but one wonders what kind of place she must be in, emotionally. And to go to such lengths as this screams to me that the woman has lost her way. If so, I sincerely feel for her.

Any chance of a mutual reconciliation (by that I mean entirely welcome) with the royal family, at large, are all but gone now I'd imagine.

It's one thing to have an employee betray your trust, but to have the mother of your children and grandchildren try to make a few pretty 'pennies' from the association is, dare I say, an unforgiveable deception as I'm sure it shall be seen as such.

A very sad circumstance for those involved, and another thing I notice is that the Royal Forums isn't short on people so eager to crucify which is so easy to do when looking from outside the fish bowl!

She's mad more than one bad choice, and she'll be accountable for her actions. I think that's more than enough for her to contend with.
 
OMG this is just horrible I am so mortified for her mortification what will she do now .... worse than the Sophie thing IMO and she has nowhere to go and the whole thing is horrible for the Queen just sooo typical of her [Fergie] never learns.
 
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I withdraw the word title, it seems to bother people too much. Let us just say that with out Duchess of York after her name she would lose her revenue. She has brought the family into disrepute more than once and I am sure any "request" from the Queen would be respected.
There is no reason to be sorry for Sarah, she got herself into the mess and she is no young adolescent. There is one good way to not get into debt, and that is to stop spending so much. If Prince Andrew doesn´t mind her sponging off him then that is up to him but I think he will mind if her indiscretion costs him his very comfortable employment as Trade representative, for which he is said to have genetical qualifications, and this may well do just that.
 
Can I just ask what is the worse thing that can happen? I mean okay her relationship with Andrew and the rest of the family might be ruined but beside that....she can't face any legal charges or anything can she? I'm only really concerned for Bea and Eugenie cause they both really trusted they're mother. As for this whole situation I'm not sure what I feel at this point I'll have to think about it for a while and get back to you on that point. This is very tricky situation I dunno how it's going to be handled.

Also can I ask something else how does this hurt Andrew and his work as the Trade representative?
 
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I know that Sarah didn't get a fortune from her divorce, but since then she's written books, been working for Weightwatchers, done interviews and magazine deals all for money, yet she's still broke? It's a dreadful situation and she certainly doesn't come across as a good business woman. What if the businessman had been real and actually paid her £500K - she'd then have to somehow pursuade Prince Andrew to meet him and Princ Andrew could refuse - would the man sue for breach of contract or fraudulently obtaining the money under false pretences? Has Sarah burnt her bridges in the business world I wonder?
 
But she did nothing illegal or even unethical.
Sarah was offering to an unvetted, shady businessman representing foreign interests not only access but also influence over a member of the Royal family who also is a government representative whose role is to promote and defend British interests exclusively.
She wasn't just selling access, she was selling herself as a lobbyist. In the video she clearly promise to use her influence over Andrew to help the business man make money and to have an active role beyond mere introduction.
FERGIE: And he (Andrew) says, 'Let's play, we'll play' as long as it's nothing to do with him. . . But you will be his friend. I will listen to the friendship talk between you two. And then I do it.
REPORTER: OK.
FERGIE: You two talk.
REPORTER: Right
FERGIE: I listen.
REPORTER: OK.
FERGIE: Then I activate. . . he meets the most amazing people. And he just throws them my way.
So it would come to a situation where an unsuspecting Andrew though he was meeting a new acquaintance of his ex-wife but was really meeting someone who hired her to get to him or where he though he was having an informal conversation with the mother of his children but was really being lobbied.

I don't know in what universe this is not unethical. I would also argue that this could be seen as corruption because in the real world, when 'movers and shakers' are being lobbied, they know they are being lobbied. Lobbyist can be shady people but they usual don't hide who they are and who they are working for. Sarah was being utterly deceitful, lying to her client and also apparently planning to lie to Andrew.
Also, let's not ignore the fact that she is accepting cash from an unknown source (it could have been drug money for all she knew) and that she most certainly wasn't planning to declare it so that she would not have to pay taxes on it.

Don't get me wrong, I look at Sarah and I see a desperate person doing desperate things. I pity her, I really do.
But there is no way on hearth what she did was remotely ethical or even fully legal.
 
...how does this hurt Andrew and his work as the Trade representative?
I don't think it would hurt his job. All this shows is that his ex wife has no mind and will do anything for money. She can't be charged with anything, its not illegal to talk to a journalist. Bea and Eugenie are the ones who will suffer most on this.

Without the surname, she would still be Andrews ex-wife and she would still make headlines. She gets no official money from the royal family, she gets handouts from Andrew. It bothers people the word title, because she no longer has a title. You can't give her something she doesn't have.

All the money she makes she obviously spends, she was known for spending willynilly when she was a royal. I think she burnt her bridges along time ago. After this no one will take her seriously. I agree she gets jobs because of who she is, not how she is. If she had never married into the royal family, I doubt she would've got a very high proced job.
 
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ht-offering-access-Prince-Andrew-500-000.html...why should Beatrice and Eugenie suffer when they have done nothing wrong? They cannot loose there titles now, their children will most likely only be Lords and Lady Windsor, just like Harry's unfortunately will.
Beatrice and Eugenie's children will get no titles through them just as Anne's children have no titles because they are descended through a female.
Harry's will probably take the same route as Louise and James so that without anything officially being said only the children of the monarch and those of the eldest son will have the title.
 
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I withdraw the word title, it seems to bother people too much. Let us just say that with out Duchess of York after her name she would lose her revenue.
If she stops using Duchess of York as a surname, which it is, then she is left with being Mrs Sarah Mountbatten-Windsor or reverting to her maiden name.
Regardless of what name she uses she is the mother of the Queen's grandchildren and will always be able to trade on that and that is something the BRF can't ignore.

They can't wash their hands of her as she is permanently linked and she will attend royal functions that relate to the princesses so she will still have contact. It is necessary for the RF to consider the options and maybe revisit the divorce settlement as that was woefully inadequate for her situation.
 
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I, personally, am not aware of the arrangements concerning the York divorce. Is anyone able to shed some light on it for me by any chance?
 
I have just watched the video and have to say Sarah should feel very very shamed right now. She has put everything she ever had in jeopardy. Dear knows how this could affect her relationship with her daughters and Prince Andrew. She would jeopardise it for a lump sum!

I think she needs a serious wake up call.
 
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