Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew’s Relationship in Photos
Sarah, Duchess of York is no longer a member of the British royal family but she remains close to Prince Andrew, Duke of York, her ex-husband. They’ve long been co-parents to their daughters, Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York. Ahead, take a look at Sarah and Andrew’s relationship in photos.
They got married in 1986
Sarah officially joined the royal family in 1986 when she and Andrew had their royal wedding at Westminster Abbey. Young and in love, the couple kissed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace just as Princess Diana and Prince Charles had done five years earlier. As the Duchess of York said in the 2011 documentary, Finding Sarah: From Reality to the Real World, they “did it deliberately” because they were told “not to.”
By 1992, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were separated
From 1986 to 1992 a lot had changed in their marriage. Sarah and Andrew had welcomed two children; Beatrice and Eugenie. And the Duke of York had been spending so much time away in the Royal Navy, Sarah hardly ever saw him. They reportedly only spent 40 days a year together.
“What I got was not the man, I got the palace and didn’t get him,” Sarah later said, according to Mirror.
After they made the decision to separate, the Duke and Duchess of York continued to spend time together as a family with Beatrice and Eugenie. They’d go on vacations together and at one time they lived together.
In 1996, they officially divorced
Four years later in 1996, Sarah and Andrew made their separation official by finalizing their divorce. The Duchess of York purposely didn’t sign a confidentiality agreement as part of their divorce settlement so she could continue with her career as an author and write about her experience in the royal family.
That same year Sarah released a memoir about her time in the royal family. In her book, My Story, she opened up about her failed marriage to Andrew and provided details on why their relationship didn’t last. The Duchess of York shared she and Andrew first started seriously considering divorce in 1992.
“From early on that year, Andrew and I had been discussing a separation,” she said. “Not because we’d stopped caring for one another, but because I had reached the end of my royal rope.”
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson remain close today
More than 20 years after their official split, the Duke and Duchess of York remain close. In fact, they are on such good terms, there have even been rumors of a reconciliation.
Sarah commented on the speculation that she and her ex-husband were getting back together in 2019. The Duchess of York said she and Andrew are more than friends, that they have the common goal to be the best parents they can be to their daughters.
“We work in unity and Andrew and I are focused on being good parents together. We are bigger than friends,” she said. “We learn from each other, support each other and understand it’s about communication, compromise, and compassion.”
