Sarah Ferguson and the former Prince Andrew have been divorced since 1996, but the two are finally moving their separate ways after King Charles evicted them from Royal Lodge. The couple, who married at Westminster Abbey in 1986, originally met thanks to Andrew's sister-in-law, Princess Diana—and according to biographer Andrew Lownie, there was one character trait that initially drew them together.
In his new book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, Lownie writes that in 1985, Andrew told a friend that he was "a loner," but would "really like to be married," admitting he had "yet to meet the right girl." That June, Princess Diana intervened, although it seems she had a bit of an ulterior motive for her matchmaking.
Lownie wrote that Diana "was in need of an ally at court" and after already having tried to make her friend Sarah Ferguson a lady-in-waiting, the princess decided to invite Sarah to a house party for Royal Ascot that June. "Whether by luck or design," Andrew ended up sitting next to Ferguson.
Noting that Sarah "was on one of her periodic diets," Lownie shared that Andrew teased her about not eating "her chocolate profiteroles" and said he'd "do the same" if she ate them all. The prince, however, didn't stay true to his word, and Ferguson "playfully whacked him."
"When they discovered they had the same childish sense of humour, their mutual attraction increased," Lownie noted. However, Ferguson was still in a relationship with her older boyfriend, Paddy McNally, and "hoped this new love interest might make him jealous." In short, it didn't.
Their relationship progressed quickly, but one palace source noted that Fergie "was all high-jinks and jolly-hockey sticks and practical jokes. Andy loved it, no one else did." The palace insider added that Queen Elizabeth "said to someone after Fergie had left the Presence, 'Does that girl never stop talking!'"
By February 1986, Andrew and Sarah were engaged, and the public couldn't have been happier. Lownie noted that Brits and royal fans alike "loved her eye-rolling talent for silly faces, sense of humor, irreverence, unpretentious manner" and that Fergie didn't seem "to care about her clothes."
Her sense of humor carried Ferguson through many a scandal over the years, as Lownie recently told Marie Claire, referring to the former Duchess of York as the "Houdini of the Royal Family." However, after her recent email scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein the author added, "I think she is running out of lives."
