Sarah Ferguson's name used to open the Royal Box doors at Wimbledon, but now the silence around her feels like the kind that makes your stomach drop at midnight. This time last year, the Duchess of York was at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, sitting in the Royal Box at the invitation of King Charles. On June 30, 2025, the then 65-year-old Ferguson attended the first day of the championships with her eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, taking a prime seat in the prestigious enclosure. It marked her highly-publicised return to the Royal Box for the first time in decades, with her last appearance there dating back to 1988 when she attended beside Princess Diana.
King Charles's Support Short-Lived
While invitations to the historic 74-seat enclosure are exclusively extended by the All England Lawn Tennis Club's (AELTC) chair, reports from royal insiders indicated that King Charles intervened to support her high-profile return. However, fast forward to July 2026 and there has been no sign of Ferguson at the home of strawberries and cream. In fact, it would be easier for her to ascend Mount Everest than to get a VIP escort up and over Henman's Hill.
So much has changed for Ferguson and her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, in the last 12 months, and none of it has been good. In 1992, the late Queen Elizabeth once spoke of an "Annus Horribilis" – Ferguson was involved in that as part of the nightmare that year that was her separation from Andrew. Also that year saw the separations of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, and the then Prince Charles and Princess Diana, as well as the publication of Andrew Morton's tell-all book, Diana: Her True Story, and the devastating fire at Windsor Castle.
A Year Worse Than Annus Horribilis
That now looks like a hazy day and picnic on Primrose Hill compared to the 12 months Ferguson and Andrew have just endured – and it is hard to have much sympathy for them. Both have denied any wrongdoing over their association with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but both also publicly claimed they had cut off ties with the US financier after his sex crime conviction when in fact they had not.
Pre-Epstein Files, Ferguson's lowest ebb was probably the infamous 2010 'Cash-for-Access Scandal' when she was filmed accepting £15,000 to facilitate access to Prince Andrew, admitting later she was in a financial crisis. But in January 2025, when the US Department of Justice released millions of documents relating to Epstein, Ferguson was dragged down into a new hell as they unmasked her relentless greed.
Epstein Files Reveal Desperation
In July 2009, she tapped up Epstein to pay for her business class flights to jet out to the States to see him just days after he was released from prison for procuring a 14-year-old child for prostitution. She had no moral qualms about sitting down to have lunch – a veggie lasagne – with a newly freed child sex abuser just because he paid for her flights, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie's too, to the US.
While in May 2010, she begged the now convicted pervert to hire her as his "House Assistant," writing: "I am the most capable and desperately need the money," and "Please Jeffrey think about it." The Files also revealed gushing Ferguson hailed Epstein as "a legend," telling him in one message: "I am at your service. Just marry me."
No More Royal Box Invitations
She can thank her lucky stars he never said yes. So no – we won't be seeing Sarah Ferguson in the Royal Box again. She probably didn't like tennis anyway.
