Sarah, Duchess of York Current Events 18: January 2014 - July 2018


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Zonk

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I would love to know where the funding for all this comes from; for a person who recently declared bankruptcy, Fergie doesn't stint herself.

A $17,000 per week vacation every year? A long-term personal trainer?

I've heard that she gets well-paid for her patronage work and speaking engagements, but still, at the rate she spends money, she must have another source of income. Andrew, perhaps? Or possibly the Queen?
 
It is the British tax-payer who pays for all this.. Or some shady Arab businessman seeking a favor with the Duke.. She emotionally manipulates the ex and daughters and tags along with them and makes them pay for her lifestyle.
Andrew is a gentleman enough to let his homeless ex have a roof on her top and the Queen is too vulnerable a mom to say no to her favourite son..Thats it. Simple.
And this diva,at every possible oppurtunity, spreads the silly idea of "bestest friends/eternal lovers" and rumours of re-marriage..and there are lots of American people who love the fantasies of these romances and gladly pay to read/watch this drama with rolls of tissues..
 
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I think £17,000 a week would be the commercial rent or the chalet, but she stays there for free. Sarah has been going to Verbier since her teens and has lots of friends who own property there, including her ex, Paddy McNally and the rest of his "set". As far as I'm aware, her ski trips are always funded by the kindness of her friends - nothing wrong with that.

As for an income stream, she has written a great many books over the years, and made several TV shows, including the US documentary mentioned in the article linked below. Yes, it's true of course that she lives at Royal Lodge rent free, and perhaps Andrew further subsidises her lifestyle, but that will be from his private wealth, not his civil list income.

Therefore, it think it's highly unlikely that Sarah has received a penny from the British taxpayer for many years. As far as we know, she is no longer in financial problems these days either. I think Christmas is a difficult time for her as she can't spend it with her daughters, and no doubt she is much happier skiing in her beloved Verbier than enduring the lonliness of an empty RL - good luck to her!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/dieting/success-stories/sarah-ferguson-weight-loss-duchess-2968341
 
FergieFan - please note

1. The Civil List doesn't exist anymore

2. Andrew wasn't effectively getting anything from it after 1992 when The Queen started repaying the government all monies paid to royals other than herself, Philip and the Queen Mum.

3. The new money is called the Sovereign Grant and it pays for the official expenses only - no private money.

4. Andrew gets a pension from the navy, some of which he has to pay Sarah as part of the divorce settlement, the income from a trust fund set up by The Queen Mother for him and probably another set up by his mother along with any of the money left from the sale of Sunninghill.

5. There has been a report that Andrew is worth around 75 million but I am not sure about the legitimacy of those figures.
 
FergieFan - please note

1. The Civil List doesn't exist anymore

2. Andrew wasn't effectively getting anything from it after 1992 when The Queen started repaying the government all monies paid to royals other than herself, Philip and the Queen Mum.

3. The new money is called the Sovereign Grant and it pays for the official expenses only - no private money.

4. Andrew gets a pension from the navy, some of which he has to pay Sarah as part of the divorce settlement, the income from a trust fund set up by The Queen Mother for him and probably another set up by his mother along with any of the money left from the sale of Sunninghill.

5. There has been a report that Andrew is worth around 75 million but I am not sure about the legitimacy of those figures.

£75m???? I dont believe it either!

EDIT: found a report from Forbes saying $75m - and I still dont believe it.
 
I think £17,000 a week would be the commercial rent or the chalet, but she stays there for free. Sarah has been going to Verbier since her teens and has lots of friends who own property there, including her ex, Paddy McNally and the rest of his "set". As far as I'm aware, her ski trips are always funded by the kindness of her friends - nothing wrong with that.

As for an income stream, she has written a great many books over the years, and made several TV shows, including the US documentary mentioned in the article linked below. Yes, it's true of course that she lives at Royal Lodge rent free, and perhaps Andrew further subsidises her lifestyle, but that will be from his private wealth, not his civil list income.

Therefore, it think it's highly unlikely that Sarah has received a penny from the British taxpayer for many years. As far as we know, she is no longer in financial problems these days either. I think Christmas is a difficult time for her as she can't spend it with her daughters, and no doubt she is much happier skiing in her beloved Verbier than enduring the lonliness of an empty RL - good luck to her!

Sarah Ferguson weight loss: Duchess of York sheds more than two stone in 12 weeks in determined health and fitness drive - Mirror Online
I think this nonsense that she can't spend Christmas with her daughters needs to be put to rest. Peter Phillips spends every other Christmas w/ his in laws, the Cambridges spent last Christmas w/ the Middletons, the York girls could easily spend every other Christmas w/ their mother, they and she chose not to do so.
 
Sarah's daughters do spend Christmas with their mother. They usually do so after spending it with The Queen and other members of the royal family. Sarah is mainly based at Royal Lodge with Andrew on the Windsor Castle estate.
 
Sarah's daughters do spend Christmas with their mother. They usually do so after spending it with The Queen and other members of the royal family. Sarah is mainly based at Royal Lodge with Andrew on the Windsor Castle estate.

But not Christmas Day itself - I think that's the point being made. Frankly, this "feud" stuff is childish and should stop IMO
 
5. There has been a report that Andrew is worth around 75 million but I am not sure about the legitimacy of those figures.

Iluvbertie: I am personally convinced that Andrew has investment income that keeps all his boats afloat. It's the only way his house of cards does not fall in.

And I don't think he is alone. I think I'd question the intelligence of any of the family that was not building their portfolio.
 
I have no doubts that he has investment income - I only question the figures given as 75 million seems rather a lot. 15 million - 25 million I could easily believe but 75 million I think could be a stretch.
 
I have no doubts that he has investment income - I only question the figures given as 75 million seems rather a lot. 15 million - 25 million I could easily believe but 75 million I think could be a stretch.
We will never know, one way or the other. ;)
 
Beatrice and Eugenie could spend Christmas day with their mother if they wanted too. But that wouldn't get Sarah any sympathy. For several years the Queen gave her a cottage on the estate to stay in over christmas so the girls probably did see her. Andrew may give her some sort of allowance her books haven't sold well in ages her last book was a huge flop and she has had serious financial issues so any money she made from all those books and documentries didn't last that long so she isn't living off that. I'm not sure why Sarah needs all these holidays she doesn't do that much.
 
Iluvbertie:1. The Civil List doesn't exist anymore

2. Andrew wasn't effectively getting anything from it after 1992 when The Queen started repaying the government all monies paid to royals other than herself, Philip and the Queen Mum.

3. The new money is called the Sovereign Grant and it pays for the official expenses only - no private money.

Iluvbertie: As you can probably guess, I am not one that knows a lot about the royals(learning as I fall in one hole then another), This Civil List, when did it go out of effect? I am under the assumption that all the royals live off the taxpayers..........the b..tching, the threats, the screaming about the lazy no good for nothing royals muching off the taxpayers while the poor people starve is all I read on other sites, and some of them are down right ugly, so how do the BRF support themselves? I know that the Queen in really wealthy, and then some, yet what about her children, grandchildren, cousins, the entire royal family? Don't the British people know there is no Civil List and I read somewhere recently she got a raise and the comments I read where really sad.

Andrew I believe has lined his pockets over the decades with all his rich and wealthy friends in the middle east and elsewhere, he will never be hurting for money, Charles has the Duchy of Cornwall and all the other properties that he inherited from his grandmother and other family members, Edward...how does he get his money? Anne, the same? How do they live these rather wealthy lives with no care at all for health insurance, food, travel, clothes, servants and up keep of various palaces?

I need a history lesson in this, would you please help me understand this so that I won't appear to be so dumb, there are many comments out there that I sure would love to give them a lesson in who gets what.............I get so tired of the b..ching on the BRF. I say leave them alone as long as they so their job and they do bring money to the country. This coming from someone in the US who just happens to like the BRF and no don't ever get rid of them............you don't want a republican government in there...........it would kill the British traditions in a heart beat.
 
Meadow: I'm not sure why Sarah needs all these holidays she doesn't do that much.

Meadow:
I believe that Sarah knows how to *manipulate* her daughters very well, and also Andrew. He is the father of the girls and I believe that he will do anything they want, and that means taking very good care of Sarah. Sarah has done so really horrible things to him and how he can forgive her is beyond me, She will be riding the royal gravy train for the rest of her live and not have a care in the world. If I had done 1/10th of what she has done, I would not be able to show my face in this world where everyone knows me........I would be very ashamed, she has no shame, no guilt and I believe she only loves Sarah. I know this sounds cruel, yet I know someone just like her, in fact they could be sisters they behave the same way and yet daddy keeps forgiving and opening the checkbook for whatever she wants..........identical in every way. Makes me wonder if they know each other.
 
Iluvbertie:1. The Civil List doesn't exist anymore

2. Andrew wasn't effectively getting anything from it after 1992 when The Queen started repaying the government all monies paid to royals other than herself, Philip and the Queen Mum.

3. The new money is called the Sovereign Grant and it pays for the official expenses only - no private money.

Iluvbertie: As you can probably guess, I am not one that knows a lot about the royals(learning as I fall in one hole then another), This Civil List, when did it go out of effect? I am under the assumption that all the royals live off the taxpayers..........the b..tching, the threats, the screaming about the lazy no good for nothing royals muching off the taxpayers while the poor people starve is all I read on other sites, and some of them are down right ugly, so how do the BRF support themselves? I know that the Queen in really wealthy, and then some, yet what about her children, grandchildren, cousins, the entire royal family? Don't the British people know there is no Civil List and I read somewhere recently she got a raise and the comments I read where really sad.

Andrew I believe has lined his pockets over the decades with all his rich and wealthy friends in the middle east and elsewhere, he will never be hurting for money, Charles has the Duchy of Cornwall and all the other properties that he inherited from his grandmother and other family members, Edward...how does he get his money? Anne, the same? How do they live these rather wealthy lives with no care at all for health insurance, food, travel, clothes, servants and up keep of various palaces?

I need a history lesson in this, would you please help me understand this so that I won't appear to be so dumb, there are many comments out there that I sure would love to give them a lesson in who gets what.............I get so tired of the b..ching on the BRF. I say leave them alone as long as they so their job and they do bring money to the country. This coming from someone in the US who just happens to like the BRF and no don't ever get rid of them............you don't want a republican government in there...........it would kill the British traditions in a heart beat.


1. There is NO such thing as a 'dumb question' - so please don't ever think that (I am a teacher and it is one thing that really gets to me).

2. The Civil List - ended in 2012 and was replaced by the Sovereign's Grant.

3. - HISTORY LESSON - In 1066 William the Conqueror claimed ALL the land of England as his own and then parcelled it out to his supporters etc but the bulk of the land stayed in the hands of the Crown and became known as The Crown Estate. Over the centuries different Kings and Queens gave away more and more of The Crown Estate but it was still a sizeable amount of the country and provided quite a hefty income for the monarch who used it to pay for things like the army, wars (although supplemented with increased taxes over the centuries as well), the legal system etc - in other words The Crown Estate was supposed to pay for the cost of running the country.

By 1760 The Crown Estate wasn't doing that but... the new King was also in debt (he hadn't had the advantage of having the Duchy of Cornwall estate income while heir apparent as he wasn't the eldest son of the King but grandson and so wasn't Duke of Cornwall). So George III and the parliament came to an agreement - George III would sign over to the government all of the income from the Crown Estates so that parliament could use it to pay for the running of the country and in return would pay the king an amount to cover his official expenses - called the Civil List.

Every monarch since George III has reached a similar agreement with the parliament resulting in an agreed amount to be paid to cover the official expenses of the monarch. During the present reign, due to inflation and the vast cost of living increases, the amount that The Queen agreed at the beginning of her reign was failing massively to cover her expenses by the late 60s and so there developed the regular reassessing of the Civil List payments, which rose steadily until the mid-90s when it was frozen until quite recently. In addition the government paid a figure for maintenance of the occupied royal palaces but also determined what needed to be done. That figure wasn't keeping up with the necessary maintenance as well.

In addition younger royals were granted a parliamentary annuity if they were working royals to cover their official expenses - often regarded as part of the Civil List as well.

In 1992 - the 'annus horribilis' - the Queen agreed that she would repay ALL payments made by the government to ALL members of her family except herself, Philip and The Queen Mother, which she has done ever since. She also agreed to voluntarily pay tax on her private income - something Charles has been doing since the early 70s but he is always criticised and she is given a pass -- but that is another 'lesson'.

The decision was made in 2011 to replace the myriad of payments - Civil List, transport, maintenance etc into ONE payment and the legislation was passed to give The Queen 15% of the income of The Crown Estate (the other 85% goes to the government) as her money for official expenses, transport, palace maintenance etc - so ONE payment instead of four or five and The Queen has total say over how it is spent rather than government departments getting involved as well.

4. The Queen's private income comes from a range of sources but the main one if the Duchy of Lancaster estate which provides the private income for the monarch and has done so since the middle ages. It is very similar to the Duchy of Cornwall but it is for the monarch. She has also invested wisely and has a portfolio of stocks, as well as the income from both the Sandringham and Balmoral estates. The income from Windsor is divided depending on its source - from what they do there e.g. farming - that is theirs but from tourists - to help with the maintenance of the Castle and other royal properties.

5. Charles has the income from the Duchy of Cornwall estate and uses that to provide for Camilla, William, Kate, George and Harry along with himself. It seems that it is actually giving him a larger private income than the Queen is getting from the Duchy of Lancaster but that is largely his only income while she has other sources. Both these Duchies have legislative restrictions such as the capital properties can't be sold so, for instance, Highgrove will remain with the Duchy of Cornwall because it was bought using Duchy capital while Sandringham was bought using Duchy profits and so was able to be separated from the Duchy.

6. Sources of income for other royals - George V left trust funds for his younger children, as did Queen Mary and these trust funds, along with astute management, careful investments, and maybe some supplementing from The Queen to her cousins, who couldn't work for themselves but were working for her, provides the income for the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent and Princess Alexandra. Their children will end up with anything still in the trust funds. George VI also left trust funds for Margaret and his existing grandchildren - Charles and Anne and The Queen and The Queen Mother established trust funds for the later children and grandchildren e.g. there are reports that The Queen Mum left around 19 million pounds for her great-grandchildren in trust (not confirmed mind you). Anne also has the income from the Gatcombe estate that she was given by her mother as a wedding present. Edward and Andrew are different - Andrew does have his military pension as befits a man with 20 or so years service and reaching the rank he did - but he does have to pay some of that to Sarah as part of the divorce settlement. Largely it is believed that besides the trust funds that were set up at birth by their mother and grandmother they really have no other major source of income - unless their mother is still supplementing their income. Andrew may have made some deals but I think it is more a matter that some of the associates he made while Trade Envoy like the cache of holidaying or eating with a British royal and so pay for him to go on their yachts etc rather than 'shady deals' as such although I am sure he was given some tips about stocks and shares that have helped him. In addition selling Sunninghill for 15 million pounds can't have hurt, particularly if he invested it wisely.

7. The pay rise The Queen received a few months back is simply because the Crown Estates made more money and she now receives 15% of that income. If it went down in earnings next year then she would receive less money. This money is to pay for the official staff of herself, her husband, and the other working royals, except for Charles and his branch which are supported from the Duchy of Cornwall.

8. In real terms the Queen is actually getting less from the government than she was in 1992 but that point is always lost on people.
 
This is 2014 now, must we launch attacks on Sarah this year.
 
Sarah is attack worthy at all times because she stuffs up so often - she brings it on herself. If she doesn't do anything scandalous then there may be no cause to attack her but the chances are, given her track record, that she will say or do something cringeworthy at some stage of the year. The media are already reporting her expensive holiday - which raises the questions about who is paying for this?
 
Sarah is attack worthy at all times because she stuffs up so often - she brings it on herself. If she doesn't do anything scandalous then there may be no cause to attack her but the chances are, given her track record, that she will say or do something cringeworthy at some stage of the year. The media are already reporting her expensive holiday - which raises the questions about who is paying for this?

Well, I understand Sarah has a habit doing or saying things that's silly sometimes but she haven't done anything wrong as of late. Sarah has been busy working for her charities and doing other great things.

I mean, at some point we have to learn to let her past mistakes go and just wish her well. Folks don't always have try to make her out to be the bad guy who bully everyone around and make them do what she wants them to do. I don't think she's using and abusing her family at all.

I don't make it my business to know how Sarah is able to afford her trips and all that stuff. I'm not her accountant and business manager so I don't know her personal financial issues and most likely the folks that go on and on complaining about her financial issues don't know much either. Other than what they read in the media of course.

The royals go on a nice holiday every year when or if they get a chance and all those trips are expensive regardless who's paying. This include the Cambridge's, York's, Wessex's, Wales's and even other European royals. I know Sarah isn't an official member of the royal family anymore but I'm sure she have friends that invite her on nice trips just like many others who are in those high society social settings.

If Andrew help provide for his ex-wife, that's his business. That's the mother of his children and the woman who he married and remained good friends with. Good for them that they are able to keep things together despite everything.
 
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IluvBertie:
1. There is NO such thing as a 'dumb question' - so please don't ever think that (I am a teacher and it is one thing that really gets to me).

Oh I am so very sorry I said that.......I have always wanted to be a history teacher since 7th grade and yet life decisions got in the way. I love ancient history, I read lots of history books and have around 300 books on history from the Ancient Near East to all of Europe and Asia. One of my current books is *King, Kaiser, Tsar* by Catrine Clay which is about QV's 3 grandchildren and WW1, very interesting and it was an eye opener on Kaiser W, made me feel sorry for him because he had a really horrible childhood which affected his views on England and his grandmother QV. Enough of that......Thank you for the history lesson, it was much needed and I have copied and pasted it to my file on England. It will be read a couple of times so that I can get a good understanding of the finances work for the royal family.

I envy you and your being a history teacher, one thing I do know about history is that
*It always repeats itself* and that *All the kingdoms, empires and world powers do come to ashes given time and greed of those in charge of the government be they kings or presidents or whatever title they have. I live in the US and I am an ole lady and have seen how my government has changed over the decades.........it's not the same as when I was a child that is for sure. I often wonder how long it will take before heads will fall because things keep getting worse and worse, nothing changes for the better.

I will look forwarded to reading your posts as they are interesting and I learn something, I believe in learning something new every day...after all *knowledge is power*.
Happy New Year to you!
 
Let's get back on topic...Sarah's Current Events.
 
This is 2014 now, must we launch attacks on Sarah this year.
Too late! The usual suspects are already in full swing on both Sarah and Beatrice. I expect to hear the same dross about Andrew and Eugenie within the next 24 hours.
Sarah is attack worthy at all times because she stuffs up so often - she brings it on herself. If she doesn't do anything scandalous then there may be no cause to attack her but the chances are, given her track record, that she will say or do something cringeworthy at some stage of the year. The media are already reporting her expensive holiday - which raises the questions about who is paying for this?
Not the taxpayer and hence . . . none of our business!
 
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That's the best she's looked since 2007 when her contract with Weight Watchers ended. Trim, well dressed, and happy.
 
I've stopped reading the DM - and am happier for it.

But I see that according to the headlines on 21 February she looked "chic" and today her appearance is the result of "a turbulent life".

I take it that either a turbulent life makes you chic or that within a couple of days, they have decided to rubbish her - again!
 
Some of those don't sound so good. There are hundreds of diet drinks on the market and Sarah was running mountains and in a swiss chalet at the time. Most normal folk won't be doing that. It's also one thing to lose weight and another to keep it off for a long time.
 
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