The following contains references to disordered eating.
When Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor divorced Sarah Ferguson in 1996, his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, expected her former daughter-in-law to want a large settlement. Ferguson would have been well within her rights to seek financial security, but she had something else in mind. ‘When I met Her Majesty about it, she asked, ‘What do you need, Sarah?’ and I said, ‘Your friendship,'” Ferguson recalled in a 2007 interview with Harper’s Bazaar. Elizabeth was stunned. After all, everyone in the Queen’s inner circle believed that Andrew’s ex would ask for money.
However, Ferguson believed that nothing could compare to being on good terms with Elizabeth. “I wanted to be able to say, ‘Her Majesty is my friend’ — not fight her, nor have lawyers say, ‘Look, she’s greedy.’ I left my marriage knowing I had to work. i to have‘ she continued. That doesn’t mean she didn’t get anything. After the procedure was completed, she walked away with a cash payout of $475,000. Although it is nothing, the settlement is quite modest by the standards of the British monarchy. For comparison: Prince Diana received a whopping $22.5 million for her divorce from Prince Charles that same year.
Ferguson got what she asked for. She maintained her close relationship with Elizabeth until her death in September 2022connected by their shared love of horses and dogs. “Even after her divorce, she would continue her wonderful friendship with Her Majesty by walking and chatting with the dogs in Frogmore,” a source said. The Telegraph in 2022. Ferguson – together with Andrew – took responsibility for the care Elizabeth’s beloved corgis after she died, which must be a testament to the Queen’s trust in her former daughter-in-law.
Queen Elizabeth reportedly appreciated Sarah Ferguson’s loyalty
The divorce of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson Queen Elizabeth II hit hard. Andrew and Ferguson split in 1992 – the same year Prince Charles split from Princess Diana and Princess Anne divorced her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips. Combined with a devastating fire at Windsor Castle in November, Elizabeth famously described 1992 as annus horribilis, Latin for “terrible year.” The tabloids couldn’t get enough of it, and neither could the coverage of Ferguson’s toe-sucking scandal.
As difficult as it all was, Elizabeth carried on as stoically as ever, and she and Ferguson worked things out. Part of the reason the Queen has been able to put aside her differences with her former daughter-in-law is Ferguson’s unwavering loyalty to Andrew and the royal family as a whole. Despite a divorce in 1996, Ferguson continued to support her scandal-plagued ex-husband. Ferguson and Andrew’s post-divorce relationship is so strong that they even lived together at Royal Lodge from 2008 until their eviction in early 2026.
Elizabeth paid it forward by offering support to Ferguson amid her own controversies and personal struggles. The late queen’s last words to her former daughter-in-law reflected that dynamic. “‘Sarah, remember that you are good enough.’ It makes me cry,” Ferguson recalled Elizabeth telling her before her death in a 2024 interview The times. That’s a message she’s been trying to convey to Ferguson since the days when she struggled with eating disorders and faced public backlash about her weight as a newly postpartum mother. ‘I believed my critics. But the queen never lost me,” she said.
If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who needs help, help is available. Visit the Website of the National Eating Disorders Association or contact NEDA’s Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 crisis support via text message (text NEDA to 741-741).
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