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

[queenofthelight]

Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson: I'm so very, very sorry | Mail Online (25/05/2010).

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-22280787/ (24/05/2010).

[rmay286]

A quote from The Mirror article above:

It is thought to have come about after one of her acquaintances introduced him, saying he would help her with a commitment to support a friend who was studying in America. The source added: "She requested checks and they weren't done to the level they should have been. She was also asked a huge number of questions about the other royals, which to her credit, she would not respond to."

This quote adds some new interesting dimensions to this story. First of all, the News of the World claims that Sarah didn't ask for any identification on the businessman. But this quote says that she requested background checks and they weren't done. It is possible that an assistant told Sarah they'd done checks and he was legitimate, and Sarah didn't ask for any further proof.

Also, if it's true that Sarah was asked a huge number of questions about the other royals, it's definitely to her credit that she didn't respond to them. Can you imagine how much worse it would have been if she had? It's also true that we only saw a few minutes of select video of Sarah's meeting with this man, probably the most sordid-looking parts on Sarah's part. What interests me now is what we didn't see.

Plus, the News of the World also did say that Sarah wanted the money to pay for a friend's school fees. Taking the money was totally wrong, but I think part of the reason Sarah gets into financial trouble isn't just spending on herself. She wants to spend on everyone else too, and she just can't.

This to me is starting to sound like the infamous 1992 photos. Sarah did it to herself, and yet, what kind of machinations were going on in the background to once again create a bombshell out of Sarah's indiscretions? She never should have entertained the idea of taking this kind of money in the first place, and yet, I can't help but think, what kind of plotting went on behind the scenes just to set her up? If they asked many questions about other royals, the News of the World was going for an even bigger scandal than the one they got.

I'm starting to get the feeling that this only a tip of an iceberg and there is much more information to come, both about whoever was trying to create this expose, and about what Sarah had actually been doing trying to give businessmen access to Andrew...and possibly about Andrew's business deals in general.

[Saragli]

Well lets put things into perspective, how much about the other royals does Sarah actually know? I would say that she knows very little, very little.

My emotions on this keep changing, she is obviously desperate and mentally weak but I cant decide to feel sorry for her or just not care. I'm definitely angry for still being a blotch on the image of the Royal Family. She tries to separate herself form them but then uses them and still embarrasses them. Our Sarah could never really get it right though could she. Though I do think she could garner enough sympathy to move on from this so long as she cools the jet setting.

[greenways]

I do not think Sarah is without conscience and indeed this deal we all now know about may bug her on one level, on another, she needs money and this was a way to gain it. Poor Andrew, used really.

[snowflower]

I am really shocked about this whole thind. This is not a way to behave if you are 50 and have children. Sarah need to grow up and take responsibity for her actions and money. I really csant' speak about the divorce settlement because I don't know how must life costs in UK but really, if you receive each month a amount of money that is decent and you only have to manage it in the right way ,well.... I too agree with some of you who claim that she should withdraw form the spotlight and/or stop styling herself as Duchess of York , to do whatever it takes to saves her family's reputation, because if she keeps associating Yorks with bad publicity and scandals, she is not only jeopardising her ex husband reputation and liability, but also her daughters' good name. If she feels really sorry she should probably consider stop being styled as DoY to protect herself morw from bad publicity, and out of love for her children - even merely out of respect for the Queen , who was born a York herself and I assume she doesn't like this at all.

[Tinsel]

Maybe she'll opt for the good old American rehab ploy - alcohol made me do it and now 30 days at Promises has made me better and humbler.

And for a grace-and-favor residence, how about Fort Belvedere? Has it been used since 1936?

[Lumutqueen]

Okay if she was really sorry, why did she do it in the first place?

[Roslyn]

I'm really not sure how to respond to this development. I have always had a soft spot for Sarah and have been, and still am, prepared to forgive her a lot.

What has she really done? Made an astonishingly bad decision, I think. Illegal? Apparently not. Poor form? In her position, yes, because some of the fallout might adversely affect her daughters. It is certainly a blatant use of her contacts. But people take advantage of their contacts all the time. Are they pilloried for it? No, they are sought after as having useful contacts is a desirable asset in business. Why is it worse for Sarah to have done it? Because she is taking advantage of her contacts with a member of the Royal Family, who used to be her husband. Why is this different? Should it be different? I'm not sure, but I am fairly sure Andrew's not too happy with her right now.

Why did she do it? She needed money. Why did she need money? Because she hadn't received much of a divorce settlement and hasn't managed her finances very well. She should have looked out for her interests better and not lived beyond her means. The same can be said for many of us.

I still find it hard to be harsh with her. I think she's probably done her dash with Andrew now, and that's sad for her, but can we even be sure of that? Actually I don't think she looks very well in that video and I'm wondering if that might have something to do with her poor judgment.

No doubt we'll be hearing a lot more about this.

[Madame Royale]

Maybe I'm less harsh but I think it's more likely a case of desperation rather than greed or avarice.

I agree, Warren.

[tommy1716]

I really can not beleive people are so outraged that the Queen won't give Sarah any more money, in no other family in the world would it be expected that the mother pay money to her former daughter in law. That being said if I was in theQueen's shoes and i knew i could afford to easily do so (after all what ever people on here say none of us know the Queen's personal finances, none of us know how much cash she has) i would pay off Sarah debts, that way she does not have them to worry about and can start over with a clean slate. BUT i would only do so if Sarah agreed to, move out of Royal Lodge, stop being paid for by her daughters and stopped publicly flaunting her daughters so openly as ways to increase her own standing. i think the Queen doesn't want to bail out Sarah becuase she knows if she does then SArah will jsut keep spending it and we will be back here again in a few years, Sarah has to learn that she can't just keep turning to the RF to bail her out all the time.
Alot of people keep saying "but she is the mother to two princesses", yes thats true but these princesses aren't children anymore, they are grown adults and in a few years they will be married with familise of thier own, Sarah needs to realise that she isn't a member of the Royal Family anymore and accpeted that and start living her life like that in terms of money.

[Dierna23]

I'm torn when it comes to this whole thing. At first I was just shocked. And yes, my first thought was: Fergie, the time bomb, again. She must be desperate, indeed. But I think if she isn't grown up at 50, she won't grow up anymore. I used to like her, but during the last years my opinion quite changed. I'm still unsure whether it are gaffes or if she's not calculating. I don't know her, so I'll never know and that's just subjective.

On another point I thought about how tasteless this kind of journalism is. Speaking of ethics...

[maria-olivia]

No reaction from the Firm to-day ?
Yesterday even on belgian TV the famous video "open doors" was showed. I was surprised.

[Zonk]

I thought the Queen helped Sarah in the past when they were married and Sarah had a slight over draft is that not the case? If that is the, why help out in the 2nd and 3rd way. And it makes you wonder....if money ran thru Sarah's hands in the past. Perhaps this why her divorce settlement was low (also due to Andrews income). Like I said, the girls never suffered for anything and isn't that the point. Most divorce settlements are about the children. I would also hazard a guess that at teh time, Sarah was not in the position to play hardball (if you recall the scandals) like Diana was in her divorce.

In regards to the royals, I agree its good that Sarah didn't speak about them but I think its more that she doesnt know anything about them. Her royal contacts are Beatrice, Eugiene and Andrew. She might see the Queen on occasion but she doesnt' see Philip, and I think the last time she saw Charles and Zara was before Charles married Camilla. I think there was an event that Zara rushed over and kissed her because she hadn't seen her in a while.

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Duchessmary

I just watched a piece on Larry King Live about this. The editor of News of the World was on there, telling everyone what a sordid piece of work Sarah is. I was shouting at the TV "And what does that make you, you *&@#$%!!!!" She was foolish to get "stung" but this tabloid is scum of the Earth.

I am no fan of the tabloids, but I really do not think that this demonstrates that the tabloids are *&@#$%!!!!" IMO, the only person looking like *&@#$%!!!! out of this whole affair is Sarah. Despite her apparent desperation, her behaviour was completely unexcusable, and one that the tabloids cannot be held responsible for. If anything, in this case, I do think that the newspaper in question cannot be criticised at all.

[Idriel]

I am flabbergasted by those comment insinuating that Sarah's modest divorce settlement is the main reason for her financial troubles.

I fail to see how on hearth she deserved anything more than she got.
The marriage ended because of her very public infidelities and the reason why she was in mountainous debts upon divorcing Andrew was because she had lived beyond her means for years and her lifestyle was extravagant even by Royal standards.

Was the Royal family supposed to financially reward her disloyalty and pay off the debts of her frivolous lifestyle?
She couldn't claim loss earning either: she didn't gave up a high-flying career to marry Andrew. By her own admission her financial situation was precarious before her marriage and after the divorce she was free to earn money whichever way she saw fit (and she did).

Blaming her current troubles on the fact that she didn't get wealthy off her divorce is really low and petty and very 1950 in term of mentality.

Also, anyone who think that if she had received £10 millions in 1996 she would not be exactly in the same situation today is seriously deluding themselves.

[rominet09]

How right you are Idriel ! Brilliant analysis !

[Zonk]

I have to agree with Idriel on this one.

I think if Sarah had received a signficant divorce settlement she would have blown thru that as well. It appears that she has lived beyond her means for at least the last 20 years. You can only borrow from Peter to pay Paul for so long before both Peter and Paul AT THE SAME TIME ask for their money back.

[grevinnan]

Who knows - perhaps she took a page out of Andrew's playbook.

[Lumutqueen]

Sarah Ferguson: What has Duchesss of York been up to? | Mail Online

We’re told the Duke of York, 50, the UK Spe­cial Representa­tive for Trade and Investment, didn’t know his former wife Sarah Ferguson, also 50, was offering business types access to him for £500,000 - plus one per cent of any deals they made.
He didn’t know.

The dodgy Duchess tells a News Of The World undercover reporter, after accepting a $40,000 down-payment in cash: ‘Look after me and he’ll look after you... you’ll get it back tenfold. I can open any door you want

[rmay286]

I've noticed that a lot of papers seem to be attributing Sarah's financial problems to her small divorce settlement. I personally don't agree. I do think the settlement seems too small especially compared to Diana's, yet no matter how much money Sarah had, she would have spent it. She obviously spent all the money she earned from Weight Watchers.

I've seen articles saying that the royal family is going to completely freeze Sarah out, kick her out of Royal Lodge, etc. and I actually don't see that happening. The big consequences of this scandal are going to be in Sarah's future earning potential. She's already no longer a "big name" who can sign advertising and marketing contracts the way she could 10 years ago. I just don't think people are nearly as interested in Sarah as they once were, and anything she tries to sell, whether it's her books or endorsements for products, won't bring in much money anymore. What's more, Sarah will never again be able to do an interview where she talks about all the mistakes she made in the 80s and 90s and how she's worked to redeem herself, because guess what? She still makes the same mistakes. And the next time she tries to tell papers how Andrew is her best friend, everyone will remember that she tried to sell access to this "best friend" for cash. Sarah cannot live off her royal connections and recycled stories anymore. She's going to have to find another way of earning money, but I don't know what it will be.