Sarah Ferguson reportedly made a request to Princess Eugenie after the birth of her daughter, but it went further than the royal couple were prepared to accept. The former Duchess of York has spent months largely out of the spotlight after being forced to leave Royal Lodge with her former husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Now, royal author Andrew Lownie has suggested there was a specific reason behind the timing of her return to the UK. Writing in the Daily Mail, Lownie claimed Ferguson's movements were "no accident" and that his "bomb-proof sources" told him she already knew about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's plans to return to Britain.
Request rejected by Brooksbanks
Lownie believes Ferguson may have learned more about the Sussexes' plans through her daughter Eugenie. The princess recently welcomed her third child, daughter Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank, in Portugal. Lownie claimed Ferguson has visited Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank at their Portuguese home since the birth.
But he made a striking claim about what Ferguson wanted from the couple. Lownie wrote that "at one stage she was pleading to be given a free run of the secluded Portuguese home", meaning she could come and go as she pleased.
However, he claimed the request was rejected by the Brooksbanks. "That was a request too far for the Brooksbanks, who have no wish to see their bolthole under siege from paparazzi," Lownie wrote.
Sussexes' plans revealed
Despite this, Ferguson is said to have been welcomed as a guest by Eugenie. And according to Lownie, the Sussexes have also been guests at the Portuguese property, potentially providing a link between the two families.
He suggested Harry and Meghan may have told Eugenie about plans to send Archie and Lilibet to private schools in the Cotswolds, although he believes there is another possibility. "More likely, I feel, is that Meghan revealed the plan to Ferguson herself," Lownie wrote.
He suggested Meghan may have felt she had "two sound reasons" for sharing the information, pointing to the women's experiences of being at odds with the Palace. "Very few people on the planet have personal experience of what that's like, and both will benefit by sharing their notes," he wrote.
Meghan's view of Ferguson
Lownie also claimed Meghan has long viewed Ferguson as an example of someone who managed to remain connected to royal life while building a commercial career. Ferguson previously appeared in advertising campaigns and on television shopping channels while retaining links to the Royal Family.
Meanwhile, reports have suggested Harry and Meghan are planning a longer-term UK presence, with their children potentially being educated in Britain. There has been no official confirmation of where the family will live.
However, on the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential podcast, editor-at-large Alison Boshoff said Meghan was unlikely to relocate permanently. She said: "My view on it now is that this was briefed out as an attempt to deflect attention from the reality, which is that Harry and the kids are relocating and Meghan is going to be going to and fro doing stuff because she has to earn money."
She later described Meghan as "a smart, ambitious, determined woman" who will "make something work".
