The period of official oblivion for Duchess Sarah, also known as Fergie, began with her divorce from Prince Andrew. Her Majesty's former daughter-in-law fell out of favor and ceased to be a guest at royal weddings and other Windsor family events, despite the fact that her daughters and ex-husband continued to take part in them. Once the Duchess even told about the most painful case for her, when in 2011 she was left without an invitation to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Technically, Sarah Ferguson is no longer a member of the family as she divorced the Queen's son. And even the fact that she is the mother of blood princesses does not change that. Beatrice and Eugenia can be infinitely close with their august grandmother, but the protocol does not imply invitations to official and family events for the monarch's former daughter-in-law. And yet Sarah, in whose eyes Prince William grew up, expected her nephew to pay attention to her.
The Duchess told Oprah Winfrey about her disappointment. “I wanted to be there with my girls… dress them up and go with the whole family,” Sarah admitted. "Besides, it was so difficult because I was the last bride to go to the altar in this place [at Westminster Abbey]." According to Fergie, Prince Andrew tried to cheer her up by allegedly saying, “It's okay. Just remember what a good day we had. Our wedding was just perfect. " Sarah admitted that the words of her ex-husband made her calm down and feel "involved in this day."
In the same year, Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, also got married. And Sarah wasn't on the guest list again. As you know, neither the royal princess nor her father ever sympathized with Fergie, although Her Majesty found the strength to forgive her former daughter-in-law for all the scandals associated with her name. Already during the wedding of Andrew and Sarah, many assumed that this story would turn out to be a collapse (read also: Premonition of Disaster: What Went Wrong at the Wedding of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew).
The Duchess of York again became a guest of royal weddings only at the moment when her daughters began to marry. According to rumors, Prince Philip held his heart out with his former daughter-in-law at Eugenia's wedding, but two years later, Beatrice reacted a little easier to the neighborhood at the wedding. Well, before the celebration of Eugenia in October 2018, Fergie became a guest at the wedding of her other nephew, Prince Harry. This came as a surprise to many royal fans, accustomed to the fact that the Duchess always stays away from the Windsor holidays. His Highness's decision was considered by many to be revolutionary and quite consistent with the character of his late mother (read also: Son of his mother: 5 features of Princess Diana that Harry inherited). However, it was only about the wedding ceremony, and not about the evening reception after it.
Photo: Getty Images
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