Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank reportedly refused a plea from Sarah Ferguson to be given unrestricted access to their secluded home in Portugal, according to royal author Andrew Lownie.
The former Duchess of York has stayed largely out of the public eye for months after leaving Royal Lodge alongside her ex-husband, Prince Andrew. Now Lownie has suggested there was a specific reason behind her recent return to the UK.
Ferguson's alleged request
Writing in the Daily Mail, Lownie said Ferguson's actions were "no accident" and that his "bomb-proof sources" revealed she already knew about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's plans to come back to Britain. He suspects Ferguson may have learned more about the Sussexes' arrangements through her daughter Eugenie.
Eugenie recently gave birth to her third child, daughter Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank, in Portugal. Lownie claimed Ferguson has visited Eugenie and Jack at their Portuguese residence since the birth.
He 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, the appeal was turned down by the Brooksbanks.
Request too far
"That was a request too far for the Brooksbanks, who have no wish to see their bolthole under siege from paparazzi," Lownie wrote. Despite this, Ferguson is said to have been welcomed as a guest by Eugenie.
According to Lownie, the Sussexes have also visited the Portuguese estate. He suggested Harry and Meghan may have told Eugenie about plans to enrol Archie and Lilibet at private schools in the Cotswolds, though he believes another scenario is more likely.
"More likely, I feel, is that Meghan revealed the plan to Ferguson herself," Lownie wrote. He proposed Meghan may have had "two sound reasons" for sharing the information, highlighting the women's shared experiences of clashing with the Palace.
Shared experiences
"Very few people on the planet have personal experience of what that's like, and both will benefit by sharing their notes," he wrote. Lownie also alleged that Meghan has long viewed Ferguson as an example of someone who stayed connected to royal life while building a commercial career.
Ferguson previously appeared in advertising campaigns and on television shopping channels while keeping ties with the Royal Family. Reports have indicated Harry and Meghan are considering a more permanent UK presence, with their children possibly being schooled in Britain, though there has been no official confirmation of where the family will live.
Speaking on the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential podcast, editor-at-large Alison Boshoff said Meghan was unlikely to relocate permanently. She stated: "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 described Meghan as "a smart, ambitious, determined woman" who will "make something work".
