Sarah Ferguson appears to be quietly stepping back from public view as scrutiny around her former husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and their links to Jeffrey Epstein continues to swirl.
Once famously candid and rarely shy of the cameras, Sarah is now said to be deliberately keeping out of sight as headlines linked to Andrew show little sign of fading.
Sarah Ferguson ‘avoiding’ the public eye amid Andrew and Epstein scandal
The noticeable change in Sarah’s behaviour was highlighted by royal commentator Richard Eden on MailOnline’s Palace Confidential YouTube show.
“Unusually for Sarah, she’s been keeping an extremely low profile,” he revealed. “Indeed, when she attended the christening of Beatrice’s daughter Athena before Christmas, she literally ducked down in the car so you couldn’t see her face.”
The 66-year-old shares daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie with Andrew, and has long been a visible presence at family events. That visibility, however, now appears to have faded.
Andrew’s association with Epstein resulted in the loss of his royal titles and honours, a scandal that has cast a long shadow over the wider royal family. Sarah, too, lost her Duchess of York title as a consequence.
Eden also questioned where Sarah spent the Christmas period, noting how rarely she has been seen in recent months.
“I don’t know where she spent Christmas. Probably with friends. But unlike Andrew, who is still sometimes seen riding around Windsor Great Park on his horse, Sarah has gone from someone who is very publicity-friendly to someone who is avoiding it at all costs,” he said.
Those close to the situation suggest the shift is no accident. With attention firmly fixed on Andrew, Sarah’s retreat from public life appears to be a conscious attempt to stay out of the firing line.
Andrew and Sarah to leave Royal Lodge amid Epstein scandal
At the same time, Sarah is preparing for another major change. She is set to leave Royal Lodge, the sprawling Windsor property she has shared with Andrew for years despite their divorce in 1996.
Public backlash has reportedly forced the former couple to vacate the 30-room mansion.
A source close to Sarah previously told PEOPLE: “She will continue to forge an independent life.”
Another insider echoed the sentiment, adding: “[She’s] going to move forward independently.”
Andrew, meanwhile, is said to be relocating to a property on the Sandringham Estate. Palace sources have been clear that Sarah will not be joining him.
She has not escaped controversy herself. A 2011 email, in which Sarah referred to Epstein as a “supreme friend”, resurfaced last September and prompted several charities to cut ties with her.
Her spokesperson later insisted the email was sent under pressure.
“Like many people, she was taken in by his lies,” they said.
The renewed attention followed the release of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, which repeated her allegations that Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with Andrew on three occasions when she was 17. Andrew has consistently denied the claims and has since withdrawn from public life.
Sarah has long stood by her former husband in public. But as she retreats further from view and prepares for life away from Royal Lodge, it increasingly looks as though she is trying to carve out distance from the scandals that have defined his recent years.
Read more: Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ‘desperate’ attempt to reunite with the royal family
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