![Sarah Ferguson wearing a yellow dress & fascinator and Prince Andrew sporting a top hat as they talk amongst themselves at the Royal Ascot](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sarah-Ferguson-and-Prince-Andrew-talking-amongst-themselves-at-the-Royal-Ascot.jpg)
Prince Andrew’s Ex-Wife Sarah Ferguson Says She Still ‘Stands by Her Wedding Vows’ to Him
Over the last few years Prince Andrew‘s name has been in the headlines often but not for any good reasons. There had been rumblings for quite some time about the prince’s friendship with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew was then accused by one of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, of having sex with her when she was a minor. Things got worse for the Duke of York when he decided to go on TV and deny the allegations in what was described as a “car crash” interview.
Queen Elizabeth II‘s son is now being sued by Guiffre and while Andrew and the palace haven’t commented on the matter, one person who can’t stop talking about and gushing over the embattled royal is his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
![Sarah Ferguson wearing a yellow dress & fascinator, and Prince Andrew sporting a top hat as they talk amongst themselves at the Royal Ascot](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sarah-Ferguson-and-Prince-Andrew-talking-amongst-themselves-at-the-Royal-Ascot.jpg?strip=all&quality=89)
When and why Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson got divorced
The Duke and Duchess of York tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey on July 23, 1986. Two years after saying “I do,” Ferguson became pregnant with their first daughter, Princess Beatrice, and that’s when their marital problems started. Their issues had to do with Andrew’s Naval career as Sarah admitted that she spent her first pregnancy alone because he was always away. In 1990, they had another daughter, Princess Eugenie. But in 1992, they decided to separate.
That same year, and while still legally married to the prince, Fergie made headlines for her toe-sucking scandal in which she was photographed sunbathing topless with her feet in the mouth of financial advisor John Bryan. The scandal was a huge embarrassment for the royal family and at that point Andrew and Sarah had no choice but to divorce. They did so in 1996.
Sarah says she still honors her wedding vows and commitment to Prince Andrew
![The wedding of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Sarah-Ferguson-and-Prince-Andrew-Duchess-and-Duke-of-York-on-their-wedding-day.jpg?strip=all&quality=89)
Despite divorcing more than two decades ago and his current legal trouble, the duchess is still standing by the prince and made that known during a recent trip to Poland when she spoke to a media outlet there.
“When you make that commitment, you decide to marry a prince — and I fell in love with him,” Sarah told Polsat News. “He was a sailor, he is still. He was a helicopter pilot and was also a prince. I kept my commitment, no matter what. People said: ‘You got divorced’… They don’t know how I feel. Divorce is one thing, but my heart is my oath, my obligation.”
Prior to those comments, Sarah gushed over Andrew during an appearance on the British TV program Lorraine in August.
![Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew seen out together at China Tang in London](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sarah-Ferguson-and-Prince-Andrew-seen-out-together-at-China-Tang-in-London.jpg?w=838&h=1200&strip=all&quality=89)
The show’s host asked Fergie: “You do have a very, very close-knit family, you’re incredibly close to the girls, and of course Prince Andrew as well… I’m guessing it has been challenging times in the recent year?” To which the duchess replied: “It’s been extraordinary, the pandemic, for everybody, it’s been so challenging for everybody, but I think that Prince Andrew is just such a good man. He’s a really thoroughly good man, he’s a very gentle man. He’s a really good father. Now as a grandfather, oh my goodness, he’s really good.”