Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has revealed she fled to Thailand to avoid memories of her wedding after being snubbed from the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011. The trip came amid a period when she was repeatedly excluded from high-profile royal events.
In an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Ferguson said she took herself off to Thailand during the wedding, where there was no television or radio, allowing her to be completely quiet. She described the snub as a moment that brought back memories of her own wedding to Prince Andrew, which she called 'the best day of my life, apart from having my girls.'
Ferguson has not been a working royal for almost 30 years. Her ex-husband Andrew recently announced he would relinquish his royal titles and honours amid fresh claims about his links to Jeffrey Epstein. It has also been reported that he will lose his prince title and leave Royal Lodge, the 30-bed mansion he shared with Ferguson.
Despite remaining on good terms with Andrew since their divorce in the mid-1990s, Ferguson and Andrew are expected to be shunned from the royal fold for good. Prince William is said to have been a driving force in taking a firmer line against his uncle Andrew, with journalist Emily Maitlis claiming William pressured his cousins, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, to encourage their parents to move out of Royal Lodge.
Ferguson also spoke about the difficulty of being banished from the royal family, saying she longed to be part of it all. She noted that for 15 years she did not spend Christmas with her daughters because it was a royal family occasion, but she accepted that 'you can't have your cake and eat it too.'
