Oh, Sarah Ferguson has been a naughty, naughty, ex-duchess. The ex of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, was caught on video tape selling access to Andrew, fourth in line to the British throne, for 500,000 pounds. The video was taken by News of the World when Mazher Mahmood, an undercover reporter, posed as an Indian businessman wanting to meet the prince.
In the video, you can see Fergie opening a briefcase, which contained $40,000 in cash. She tells Mahmood “that opens up everything you would ever wish for. I can open any door you want, and I will for you. Look after me and he’ll look after you … you’ll get it back tenfold.”
Why would the mother of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, fifth and sixth in line for the British Throne respectively, sell out her ex like that?
When Fergie divorced Andrew in 1996, she was deeply in debt. Some say her extravagant lifestyle led her to be about 4 million pounds in debt. And if you think being a former duchess brought her a great payday, think again. She got a yearly settlement of 15,000 pounds from Andrew. While some say she was bitter about that, the two remained friendly and she has been living rent free in one of his homes as of late.
Eventually, Fergie worked her way out of all that debt by writing children’s books (Budgie the Helicoper), becaming a public speaker, and earning endorsements with Weight Watchers (which not only paid her a handsome amount, it also helped her lose weight), Wedgwood china, and Avon.
She pulled herself out of debt, but it seems that debt has since come back. She lost her Weight Watchers gig and her U.S. promotions company, Harmoor, was heavily in debt.
Fergie has said she is “devastated” and “regretful” of her behavior. She also told Oprah (in an interview that will air tomorrow) that “I haven’t faced the devil in the face because I was in the gutter at the moment. So I’m aware of the fact that I’ve been drinking, you know, that I was not in my right place.”
So far, the royal family has only released a statement which said Andrew had no knowledge of the meeting.
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