Royal experts have weighed in on rumours that Sarah Ferguson is close to signing a seven-figure deal for a tell-all autobiography, suggesting there may be an ulterior motive behind the claims. Sources indicated on Thursday that the ex-duchess is just "days away" from making a deal with a publisher, leaving the royal family in a spin.
However, a source close to Ferguson, 66, has hit back at the claim, saying she "has no plans to write any tell-all memoir" and is "unaware of any multi-million dollar book deal".
Royal historian's theory
Andrew Lownie, a royal historian who wrote the biography 'Entitled' about Sarah and Andrew, told the Mirror: "She has been touting a book for months but I'm not convinced she will do it. She will not want to endanger the future of her children."
He added: "My instinct she has leaked the story as part of a negotiation with the Royal Family to take care of her. Let us see which publisher confirms the deal – if any."
Lownie previously told the Mirror that Ferguson may be "negotiating" for a "nice pension" in exchange for not taking part in a tell-all interview or book.
Risk of revisiting scandals
The BBC's former royal editor, Jennie Bond, believes the former duchess would be taking an enormous risk by revisiting the scandals of her past. "I'm sure many publishers have approached Sarah with their fat wallets suggesting she writes another book about her life as a royal and beyond," she said. "And she's always been ruthless in her pursuit of money."
Bond also pointed to Ferguson's first autobiography, published 30 years ago, in which she described her first meeting with the wider royal family at Sandringham as facing her "firing squad". "She was so nervous that she tripped over a piano leg, spilled her drink and kicked one of the corgis. I can't see her choosing to face the firing squad again by writing a tell-all memoir," she said.
Commercial interest and potential impact
PR experts believe there will be a huge appetite for Ferguson's version of events. Chad Teixeira, a PR and media consultant, told The Mirror: "Sarah Ferguson has had more comebacks than most public figures would ever get away with. Her reputation has been through scandal after scandal, from the toe-sucking pictures and money problems to the cash-for-access sting and, much more seriously, the questions around her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein."
He added: "So there is absolutely a market for this book. I could easily see a deal going well into seven figures, particularly if she is willing to talk properly about Andrew, Epstein and what has gone on behind closed doors in the Royal Family. That is where the real value is for a publisher. Nobody is paying millions for a carefully polished version of events we've already heard."
Ferguson's first autobiography, My Story, was published in 1996 following her divorce from Prince Andrew. The book was reportedly agreed for an advance of between £800,000 and £1.5million at the time, according to accounts of the deal.
Teixeira warned that the problem for the Royal Family might not be one huge revelation. "The Palace's biggest problem might not even be one massive bombshell. It could be death by a thousand headlines. One claim about Andrew becomes three days of stories. Something about Harry and Meghan starts another row. A private conversation with the King becomes front-page news. Then suddenly everybody is talking about scandals the Royal Family desperately wants to move on from."
For Jennie Bond, Ferguson's relationship with her daughters could be a deciding factor. "Staying silent surely has to be the best course of action," she said. "She may have come back from disgrace in the past, but her long friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and her open lie about ending contact with him is disgrace on another level. I'm sure her daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, would be mortified if their mother wrote another book."
