Sarah Ferguson has been seen in public in the UK for the first time in over a year, attending a memorial service in London for her former boyfriend, Paddy McNally.
The former Duchess of York was spotted alongside her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, at St Paul's Church in Knightsbridge. It is the first sighting of Ferguson since she was pictured at an Austrian ski chalet in April, after going to ground following the release of millions of documents about paedophile Jeffrey Epstein by US authorities, which shed new light on her association with him.
Return to the UK
It is understood that Ferguson has slipped back into the UK and has been keeping a low profile at a new property in the Home Counties. She was last seen out in public in the UK last September, when she attended the funeral of the late Duchess of Kent.
In pictures obtained by the Daily Mail, Ferguson, dressed in navy, was seen arriving at the service with her daughters and their husbands. The former duchess could be seen smiling for the camera as well as hugging a fellow attendee.
Memorial for Paddy McNally
In August, Ferguson did not attend the funeral of motorsports tycoon McNally, with Beatrice the only royal seen present. McNally was a former racing driver who made his fortune running corporate hospitality at Formula One events. He dated Ferguson for several years in the early 80s before she married ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, but the pair remained good friends after they split, with the ex-duchess once calling him the millionaire her 'father figure'.
In the Andrew Lownie book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, the author described the ex-Duchess of York once remarking about McNally: "He taught me so much about life. Whenever I wanted advice, I turned to him because he was so worldly-wise. He seemed to have seen and done everything." He eventually sold his Allsport company in 2006 for $350million (£261.5m) and was ranked 240th on the Sunday Times Rich List last year.
Epstein scandal context
The King's former sister-in-law's public outing came as Charles was on a tour of the Caribbean, after months of facing calls to speak to the US authorities about Epstein. It also comes as Police Scotland said it is investigating the time Ferguson's ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell spent at the King's private estate in Scotland.
The Epstein scandal hit Ferguson in September 2025 when it emerged that she wrote to the convicted sex offender, calling him a "supreme friend" despite publicly disowning him, prompting a string of charities to drop her as a patron. Meanwhile, in documents released in January, Ferguson appeared to say to Epstein in an email: "I am at your service. Just marry me."
Ferguson's ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his titles by the King because of "serious lapses of judgment" over his friendship with the late paedophile Epstein. The pair had lived together at Royal Lodge in Windsor for years after their divorce but are now living apart after the shamed ex-prince was forced out of the property. Ferguson also lost her courtesy royal divorcee title and reverted to her maiden name, and lost the freedom of the city of York, after councillors voted unanimously to remove the honour over her links to Epstein.
