The Tragic Journey from Grimsby to Buckingham Palace to Murder
Life can indeed prove stranger than fiction, and the extraordinary rags-to-royals-to-murder narrative of Jane Andrews starkly illustrates this truth. A young woman raised in the Lincolnshire port town of Grimsby, Andrews found herself unexpectedly immersed within the heart of the British Royal Family during the opulent 1980s, serving as a personal dresser to Sarah Ferguson, then the Duchess of York.
A Decade in Royal Service Ends in Abrupt Dismissal
For nearly ten years, Jane Andrews acted as both employee and confidante to the Duchess, forging a close bond. However, as Ferguson's own personal life and financial situation deteriorated, Andrews was ultimately cast out from the royal circle. This rejection left her feeling profoundly lost and battling severe depression.
Seeking solace, she later entered a relationship with millionaire businessman Thomas 'Tommy' Cressman. What should have been a happy new beginning tragically culminated in violence. Merely two years into their romance, and just three years after her departure from palace life, Andrews attacked her sleeping boyfriend with a cricket bat before fatally stabbing him with a kitchen knife.
ITV's 'The Lady' Dramatises a Grisly True Story
With its lurid blend of royalty, immense wealth, and cold-blooded murder, this story has previously been the focus of several true-crime documentaries. Now, it forms the basis of a new four-part ITV drama series titled The Lady, which delves into the complex factors that drove Andrews to kill her lover.
The series stars Mia McKenna-Bruce as Jane Andrews and Natalie Dormer as Sarah Ferguson. Before its broadcast, the production has already attracted significant controversy. This intensified following revelations about the close connections between the Duchess, her former husband Prince Andrew, and the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Controversy and Family Distress Surround the Production
In a notable act of respect, actress Natalie Dormer has refused to publicly promote the series and has donated her fee to charities supporting victims of child abuse. Meanwhile, the victim's brother, hotelier Rick Cressman, has expressed deep distress. He collaborated reluctantly with producers, stating he felt he had no choice but to cooperate to ensure some accuracy in his brother's portrayal.
'We felt we had no choice but to co-operate,' Rick Cressman told the Daily Mail. 'It was presented to us as a fait accompli... I feel emotionally and mentally distressed.' Producer Florence Haddon-Cave insists the team acted with sensitivity, maintaining contact with the Cressman family throughout production to approach the story with care and responsibility.
Exploring a Complicated Character and a Doomed Relationship
The series portrays Jane Andrews as a deeply complicated individual. It humanises her experiences of joy and heartache while also depicting her as a person prone to violent outbursts, ultimately presenting her as desperate and unhinged enough to commit murder.
Born in 1967 to a frequently unemployed joiner and a social worker mother, Andrews endured an unhappy childhood marked by poverty. She claimed at her trial to have been sexually abused at age eight and developed an eating disorder and depression during puberty, attempting suicide at 15.
Ambitious to leave Grimsby, she answered an advertisement in The Lady magazine, shocked to discover the interview was at Buckingham Palace. She bonded with Sarah Ferguson, who nicknamed her 'Lady Jane' as Andrews adopted her boss's accent and style. She married Christopher Dunn-Butler in 1990, but the union ended after five years, partly due to her admitted infidelities and greater devotion to Fergie.
The Fatal Relationship and Its Aftermath
After her redundancy from royal service—claimed by Andrews to be due to a flirtation, but officially a cost-cutting measure—she met Tommy Cressman in 1998. He was a former stockbroker and son of a millionaire, running a car accessory business. Their relationship moved quickly, but it soured when Andrews discovered emails to another woman.
Following a holiday argument in September 2000 where Cressman stated he would never marry her, Andrews returned to their flat later that evening. While he slept, she bludgeoned him with a cricket bat and stabbed him to death. After fleeing, she was found days later in Cornwall following a suicide attempt.
At her 2001 Old Bailey trial, Andrews claimed self-defence but was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. She was released on licence in 2015, briefly recalled in 2018, and finally released again in 2019. Now aged 58, she reportedly works at an animal hospital.
A Delicate Balance Between Drama and Fact
Produced by Left Bank Pictures, the makers of The Crown, the series includes a disclaimer noting it is 'inspired' by true events, with some elements created for dramatic purposes. Actor Ed Speleers, who plays Tommy Cressman, stated that meeting the victim's brother helped inform his portrayal, though he emphasised their Tommy is a 'depiction' and 'reimagining'.
Writer Debbie O'Malley conducted extensive research, including reviewing court transcripts and documentaries. She aimed to move beyond sensational headlines, exploring the relationship as a doomed love story and highlighting Andrews's later diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.
'It poses thought-provoking questions about class and entitlement while exploring issues around mental health,' O'Malley says. 'If this drama can make viewers think more about the people behind the headlines... that would be great.'
The four-part series The Lady premiered on ITV1 on 22 February, with all episodes available on ITVX.
