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Sarah Ferguson would marry her ex-husband Prince Andrew all over again if given the chance to live her “amazing life” a second time around.
The 62-year-old spoke to Times Radio Wednesday and got candid about her relationship with the Duke of York, who has attempted to keep a low profile following his sex abuse scandal.
On Monday, the 62-year-old Andew missed the Order of the Garter, one of the oldest royal traditions. According to royal sources, “a family decision” prompted the prince to withdraw at the last minute.
When asked if she would marry Andrew if she lived her life all over, the novelist replied, “Oh, yes. He’s a very good and kind man.”
She also reflected on their wedding day. The exes were married from 1986 until 1996.
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attend Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse June 21, 2019, in Ascot, England. The prince later stepped down from royal duties that year.
(Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
“And it was an exceptional day, July 23, 1986,” she said. “And it was just extraordinary. I think my life is an amazing life. I think I’ve been very lucky. And I am now just beginning my life again. And I think it’s pretty cool to be able to say that.”
According to multiple reports, Ferguson lives at Royal Lodge, Windsor, with Andrew. They still vacation as a family with their daughters — Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Ferguson also noted to LBC’s Iain Dale that they’ve remained close for their children.
“He really understands the art of communication with me and trust,” said Ferguson. “We really do communicate, comprised with compassion. I will stand by him. It’s an incredible friendship and not just co-parenting. It’s just real. Thank goodness the girls have got [him]. He’s very naval and ‘this is how it’s done’ and very royal life, and then they have the river running by, which is me.”
Ferguson also reflected on whether she had a fairytale ending with her former husband.
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Prince Andrew with Sarah Ferguson at Buckingham Palace after the announcement of their engagement in London March 1986.
(Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
“I think the happy ending is the way we are today and the way we lead by example with the ability to have a sense of understanding of each other,” she explained. “I don’t think I would ever wish to go into anything where I can’t just jump around and [have] a sense of freedom. I think that is [the] key to it. I love to be free.
“I like to go to Poland tomorrow if I wish to or if I want to go to Rwanda,” she shared. “I just love the way I am.”
In May, the palace announced that Andrew wouldn’t appear on the balcony alongside senior members of the royal family for Trooping the Color during the Platinum Jubilee. The queen decreed that only working members would join her.
Andrew stepped away from royal duties in 2019 following a disastrous interview concerning his ties with late American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped back as senior members in 2020, also didn’t appear on the balcony.
Prince Andrew, The Duke York; Sarah, Duchess of York, right; and their daughter, Princess Beatrice, following her graduation ceremony at Goldsmiths College Sept. 9, 2011, in London.
(Ian Nicholson/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
During the Trooping the Color June 2, the palace revealed Andrew was going to miss the service of thanksgiving being held the following day due to testing positive for COVID-19.
In January, the queen stripped Andrew of his military title and patronages. He is still in line to the throne. He is currently ninth behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s two children. However, Andrew cannot use “His Royal Highness” in any capacity.
Andrew strenuously denied Virginia Giuffre’s allegations after she sued him. The American woman accused the British royal of sexually abusing her while she traveled with Epstein in 2001 when she was 17.
Giuffre, 38, reached a settlement with Andrew after a judge rejected the prince’s bid to win early dismissal of the lawsuit earlier this year.
Prince Andrew, seen here with his mother, Queen Elizabeth, settled a lawsuit with sexual abuse accuser Virginia Guiffre earlier this year. Andrew has denied the claims she made against him.
(Max Mumby)
In a letter to the judge from Giuffre’s attorney, David Boies, a statement was included that said, in part, “Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights. Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks.”
According to the statement, Andrew acknowledged that Epstein trafficked “countless young girls” over many years and said the prince “regrets his association with Epstein and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.”
He also pledged to support victims of sex trafficking as part of demonstrating his regret.
Giuffre asserted that she met Andrew while she traveled frequently with Epstein between 2000 and 2002 when, her lawyers maintain, she was “on call for Epstein for sexual purposes” and was “lent out to other powerful men,” including Andrew.
A photo from 2001 that was included in court files shows Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, who says Jeffrey Epstein paid her to have sex with the prince. In the background is Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
(U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Her lawsuit said she suffered significant emotional and psychological distress and harm. She alleged she had sex with Andrew three times: in London during a 2001 trip, at Epstein’s New York mansion when she was 17 and in the Virgin Islands when she was 18.
Andrew repeatedly denied Giuffre’s allegations and has said he can’t recall ever meeting her, although a photograph of Giuffre and Andrew together in a London townhouse, his arm around her bare midriff, was included in Giuffre’s lawsuit against him.
Inconsistencies in her statements over the years that would have been highlighted by Andrew’s attorneys at trial may have motivated her, in part, to settle, though she has explained them as innocent mistakes that occurred when recalling traumatic events years later.
Andrew spent years combating concerns about his links to Epstein, who took his life at age 66 in 2019 in a Manhattan federal lockup while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Epstein’s longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of related charges.
Virginia Roberts holds a photo of herself at age 16, when she alleges Palm Beach multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein began abusing her sexually.
(Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
A settlement of her lawsuit against Andrew followed deals reached by Giuffre years ago to resolve separate lawsuits against Maxwell and Epstein. It was recently revealed that Epstein settled for $500,000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
