Sarah Ferguson might stop the UK completely and “sofa surf” with super-rich friends overseas indefinitely, The i Paper has been informed.
The “nomadic” former duchess of York has supposedly been flitting between Switzerland, Ireland and the Middle East, because the thriller round her whereabouts continues.
Ferguson has been largely ostracised from British excessive society after the extent of her shut ties to Jeffrey Epstein emerged in emails released by the US Department of Justice.
While her circle could also be considerably smaller now, she nonetheless seems to have loyal friends defending her whereabouts.
And discreet members of the super-rich abroad might benefit from the “drama” of sheltering a former member of the Royal Family, say friends and royal observers.
One particular person thinks Ferguson might attempt to revive her charity work in different international locations, since no one is more likely to “take a chance on her” once more within the UK.
Ferguson has not been seen in public since her granddaughter’s christening at St James’s Palace on the finish of final 12 months.
Reports recommend that she has moved between varied locations in current months, together with Dubai, the US, and luxurious retreats in Ireland and Switzerland – however nothing has been confirmed. It has even been reported that she could also be utilizing “burner” telephones to assist maintain her location a secret.
‘I’m not saying the place Fergie is’
“I know where she is but I’m not saying,” stated one pal. Another nonetheless calls her on her cell phone, however has stopped asking the place she is so there is no such thing as a hazard of giving a location away.
It was reported that Ferguson might have stayed with former boyfriend Paddy McNally, the ex-racing driver believed to have properties in Wiltshire, the south of France and the Swiss resort of Verbier.
A pal of Ferguson not too long ago informed the Daily Mail that an Italian rely has put her up in a “place which is like a castle”.
It sparked hypothesis that it could possibly be Count Gaddo della Gherardesca, who she was as soon as romantically linked to and who is assumed to have property in each Verbier and Italy’s Tuscany area.
Liz Brewer, a pal of Ferguson who labored on charity fundraising occasions along with her over a number of a long time, stated the ex-royal’s social circle in the UK had been greatly reduced.
The social gathering planner and knowledgeable on modern-day etiquette doesn’t suppose anybody in Britain would need the eye of placing her up in spare room.
“There are people abroad who will stick by her,” stated Brewer. “She had a lot of friends in Verbier in Switzerland.”
She thinks that super-rich individuals abroad “don’t follow scandals in our press too much”, and can be much less apprehensive about scrutiny over their ties to Ferguson.
“She needs to get a job somehow,” Brewer added. “She could work for a charity abroad. Nobody would take a chance on her in this country.”
Rich friends might take pleasure in being ‘part of the drama’
Ferguson had spent a number of years residing on the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor at reverse ends of the mansion from her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
She indicated she was not eager about transferring to a small cottage at Sandringham with Andrew as he left their outdated dwelling in February.
Andrew Lownie, the writer of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, stated there is no such thing as a scarcity of “rich friends” world wide. He thinks help will come from “mainly business types” since she has “always gravitated to rich people”.
Ferguson apologised in 2011 after it emerged that she had accepted £15,000 from Epstein, saying she “deeply” regretted the connection.
While Lownie believes Ferguson is “so discredited now” that any future enterprise ventures are off the desk, he added: “But she will make individuals really feel like they’re necessary. They develop into half of the drama. It doesn’t value a lot to place her up.
“She could go to the Middle East, she could go to Switzerland, she could go to Australia [where her sister Jane Ferguson Luedecke lives],” he added.
“I don’t think she would feel the pull to come back to the UK. She’s always been very nomadic, so she might be able to keep going, and moving around. It could possibly go on for years and years.”
Richard Fitzwilliams, a royal commentator, agrees that Ferguson might keep overseas indefinitely. “I don’t think it’s inevitable she returns to live the UK. There’s no time limit on her moving around. She’s so entitled that she is used to relying on others.”
Ingrid Seward, the royal biographer, listed a quantity of potential hiding locations, together with the Gulf states – if she was there earlier than the Iran struggle started – or a rustic home in France or Italy.
“She has far-flung friends,” stated Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty journal. “And those people would love to hide Fergie, as for them it would be a game.”
Dependency on super-rich might develop into ‘PR problem’
Lauren Beeching, a disaster communications specialist, stated that if Ferguson is staying with super-rich friends and is discovered “living that kind of lifestyle abroad”, then it might develop into “its own PR problem”.
It would make it more durable for her to regain any sympathy, stated Beeching. “Part of the story of how she ended up entangled with Epstein is about financial dependency on wealthy, powerful people.”
Not everybody thinks it’s sustainable for Fergie to stay on a so-called “sofa surfing world tour”, and that ties to her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie might pull her again to the UK.
One former acquaintance stated there have been nonetheless loyal friends from earlier than she met Andrew, and that a number of have giant estates in rural England the place she might keep hidden from public view.
Ferguson’s firms are within the course of of being wound down. Her charity, Sarah’s Trust, has closed. And her newest youngsters’s ebook was pulled by New Frontier Publishing in November.
But some publishers should still be eager about a “tell-all” memoir, stated Lownie.
Writing such a book or doing a TV interview can be “a nightmare from a pure PR standpoint”, stated Beeching.
Avoiding any additional embarrassment for her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie “feels like a significant factor in why she’s staying quiet”, she added.
But it will not be attainable to keep away from the general public gaze eternally. “She’s going to have to come out in the open and say something soon,” stated one ex-acquaintance stated.
Ferguson’s consultant declined to remark.
A spokesperson stated final 12 months that the previous duchess had made clear “her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago” and that “her first thoughts are with his victims”. They added: “Like many people, she was taken in by his lies.”
