Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson planned their leave their husbands and walk away from royal life together, with insiders saying they spent hours on the phone coming up with a scheme.
While it didn't work out as they planned, there was less than two years between Princes Charles and Andrew's announcements - and the two women began to form new lives for themselves.
Neither would officially divorce for several years, and they first had to sit down and work out their settlements.
Having married princes, both Diana and Fergie were always going to walk away with a fair bit of cash - but the difference between the two figures is astonishing.
Diana is said to have been given about £17m, but her former sister-in-law's number was much, much lower.
Speaking on Channel 5's documentary Fergie Vs Diana: Royal Wives at War, royal expert Jennie Bond said: "The settlements that both women got after their divorces of course was very different. But then their status was very different."
Majesty magazine's Ingrid Seward claims that Fergie left the family with just £600,000.
However the Queen did pay off a lot of her debuts, which gave her more financial freedom going forward.
She said: "The Queen had dished out at least two or three million pounds over the years on Fergie.
"Unfortunately money just ran through Fergie's fingers and the Queen knew that."
While she didn't get the cash, Fergie got one thing that Diana didn't - a close relationship with her ex-husband.
Psychologist Jo Hemmings said: "Andrew became almost what Diana was to Fergie during her difficult times.
"She had gone back and redeveloped and reignited that friendship with her husband, whereas Diana didn't need Fergie."
Diana on the otherhand cut all ties to the royal family, focusing all her efforts on Princes William and Harry.
Jo adds: "One of the things that emerged post divorce to both of them, was that Fergie represented an area of Diana's life that she didn't really want to remember anymore.
"As long as she maintained a friendship with Fergie, she was always going to be reminded of some really difficult times in her life.
"So when Diana moved on to almost full independence from the royal family, I think Fergie would have been quite triggering for Diana.
"She very much became her own woman and the only people she adored and depended upon and had unconditional love for were her two children.
"She was very self-contained in that way."
