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Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s split has puzzled royal watchers for years, mainly because the two have remained good friends. Although they still live together and often attend royal events, there is a very good reason why their marriage did not work. In her 1996 autobiography, Ferguson revealed exactly why she left Prince Andrew – and her reason might surprise you.

Sarah Ferguson Prince Andrew
Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew | Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Inside Ferguson and Andrew’s divorce

Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew tied the knot in a gorgeous wedding in 1986. Their union, however, only lasted until 1992 when they opted to part ways. They did not officially divorce until 1996, at the urging of Queen Elizabeth.

Since their split, Ferguson’s relationship with Andrew has been fairly solid. According to Express, they live in the same house and often make public appearances together. Their continued friendship has sparked rumors that they might reunite, though nothing has ever materialized on that front.

In her book, My Story, Ferguson opened up about why things did not work out with Andrew. Ferguson revealed that she started having serious conversations about leaving Andrew at the beginning of 1992. But she wasn’t contemplating divorce because her romance with Andrew had hit a rough spot.

Instead, Sarah Ferguson was tired of life as a royal. During the first six years of her marriage, Ferguson worked tirelessly as a member of the royal family. This includes taking on the stress of constantly being in the media, which ultimately proved her undoing.

“From early on that year, Andrew and I had been discussing a separation,” Ferguson shared. “Not because we’d stopped caring for one another, but because I had reached the end of my royal rope.”

Queen Elizabeth reacts to Prince Andrew’s split

While Ferguson wanted to get out of the marriage to save her life, Elizabeth was not happy about how her split unfolded. In 1992, someone inside the royal family leaked the breakup to the media. Ferguson was ultimately blamed for the leak, and she suffered the consequences.

Ferguson’s relationship with Buckingham Palace was severely damaged following her split from Andrew. When Ferguson and Prince Andrew officially divorced, the palace did their best to ensure that Ferguson did not get a lot of money out of the royal family.

Sarah Ferguson, of course, maintains that she was not the one who leaked the information. There is no telling who was behind the leak, though Andrew Morton claims that Princess Diana was the one who gave the information to the press.

Diana’s own marriage to Prince Charles was falling apart at the time and she needed a distraction. There has been no evidence to corroborate Morton’s claims, making it difficult to determine who really threw Ferguson under the bus.

Sarah Ferguson and Charles butt heads

Ferguson’s relationship with the royal family has been strained ever since her split from Andrew. Although it has been decades since the breakup. Andrew’s brother, Prince Charles, reportedly still holds a grudge against Sarah Ferguson.

In fact, just this past year, Prince Charles reportedly excluded Ferguson from an important royal engagement. When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot in May of 2018, Charles allegedly took Ferguson off the guest list.

Inside sources claim that Ferguson was very upset with the snub, and Harry was forced to add her to the wedding’s guest list himself. To make things even worse, Andrew and the rest of the York family was invited to the wedding, including Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, so it would have been super awkward to leave Sarah Ferguson out.

That said, Ferguson is technically no longer a member of the royal family, so Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were not obligated to invite her. She also does not get along with other members of the family, including Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

Will Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew get back together?

Despite their divorce, Ferguson and Andrew have been described as one of the happiest unmarried couples in the world. There are even some sources who claim that the two have feelings for each other. That does not mean they will ever get back together, but it sounds like it is a possibility.

Considering what Ferguson wrote in her book, however, it seems unlikely that she would ever jump at the chance of joining the royal family again. Sarah Ferguson, unfortunately, has not commented on the romance rumors, so the verdict is still out on this one.

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