Sarah Ferguson is reportedly set to return to Britain after living overseas amid the fallout over her and ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The King’s former sister-in-law is renting a six-bedroom gated property in the Home Counties, according to The Sun.
Former title and residence
The former Duchess of York, 66, lost her title in October alongside Andrew after revelations over their links to the late financier. Sarah used to live with Andrew at his former home Royal Lodge but he was forced to vacate the premises and move to Marsh Farm on the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
She could “imminently” move into a new home, which has three bathrooms and a “granny annexe”, according to the newspaper.
Return and Epstein links
Her expected return comes just days after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex came back to Britain with their children to begin a new life after six years living in the US. It is believed Sarah has been spending her time out of the public eye at a Swiss Alpine chalet in Verbier since leaving Royal Lodge, and her belongings were collected from Andrew’s home in Sandringham this week, the newspaper added.
She has faced calls to speak to US authorities about Epstein after last year’s release of millions of documents associated with him shed new light on their relationship. One email exchange suggested Sarah took her daughters to see Epstein in the US days after he was released from prison for child sex crimes.
Loss of honours
Epstein has been the downfall of Andrew, who was stripped of his titles by the King because of “serious lapses of judgment” over his friendship with the late paedophile. Sarah lost her courtesy royal divorcee title and reverted to her maiden name, and also lost the freedom of the city of York after councillors voted unanimously to remove the honour over her links to Epstein.
She and Andrew were given the honour as a wedding present from York in 1987 during a visit to the city.
