Did Sarah Ferguson Appear On An Episode of ‘Friends’?

Though the British Royal Family likes to pretend they’re above all things having to do with popular culture — we know that’s not really the case. After all, the rumor is that some of the royals even like to watch Netflix’s The Crown –the historical series based on Queen Elizabeth II’s life. Luckily, some of the royals aren’t afraid to say that adore TV.

Back in 1998, just after her divorce from Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York got the opportunity to hook up with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and the rest of the Friends gang, but did the duchess get the chance to actually appear on an episode of the beloved TV show?

Did Sarah Ferguson appear on an episode of Friends?

In the two-part Season 4 finale, “The One With Ross’s Wedding” the gang except for Pheobe (Lisa Kudrow was too pregnant to fly at the time) head to London for Ross’ (David Schwimmer) wedding to Emily (Helen Baxendale) and the things that take place throughout the episode changed the characters’ lives forever.

Ahead of Ross and Emily’s ill-fated wedding, Joey (Matt Le Blanc) embarks on a sightseeing trip around London. On his journey, Joey encounters the ever charismatic Richard Branson and of course Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson. In the clip from the episode, Joey is wearing a rather giant Union Jack hat. Fergie compliments the hat in a video that Joey later plays for Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courtney Cox) saying, ” Hi Chandler, Joey says you don’t really like his hat, but I think it’s kind of dashing.”

Was the Duchess of York excited to be on an episode of Friends?

Fergie and her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie are massive Friends fans. Therefore, when the chance to appear on the show arose, the Duchess of York jumped at it. However, when it came to reciting her lines, she got a case of stage fright.  During her quick cameo, the duchess got so nervous that Matt Le Blanc had to keep going over her lines with her. Luckily, he was a really good sport, and Matthew Perry even hung around the set with Fergie to make sure that she felt supported.

Unfortunately, not everyone was too thrilled about having London as a backdrop for Friends. During filming there was a rumor floating around that Queen Elizabeth II had banned the Friends crew from filming in front of Buckingham Palace because she was upset with Fergie about a comment she made on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Though the rumor ended up being false. However, there is actually no filming of the queen’s residences under any circumstances unless it’s for a documentary or news. The queen didn’t actually have it out for Fergie.

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