Jan. 11, 2026

Fergie Begs, Andrew Burns, and the "Yorks" Hit Rock Bottom

Fergie Begs, Andrew Burns, and the "Yorks" Hit Rock Bottom

Sarah Ferguson is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons — again. Reports claim Fergie sent desperate Christmas messages to senior royals, apologising for past scandals at a moment insiders say was wildly misjudged. We look at why those overtures landed badly, and why invoking regret alongside the Epstein saga only deepened Palace irritation.

Then, a resurfaced email photographed on Jeffrey Epstein’s desk raises fresh questions about unpaid wages, money troubles, and why correspondence involving Sarah and Prince Andrew was sitting in Epstein’s home years later. Add mounting debts at Ferguson’s struggling lifestyle brand, new claims she’s pressuring Queen Camilla, and reports of panic behind the scenes — and the Yorks’ financial reality looks increasingly bleak.

We also examine how Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are being used as the family’s last remaining bridge to respectability, why Royal Lodge is no longer an inheritance option, and a BBC investigation into millions Andrew received through the controversial sale of Sunninghill Park. The Palace has managed difficult relatives before — but this situation is testing even its legendary patience.

Palace Intrigue is your daily royal family podcast, diving deep into the modern-day drama, power struggles, and scandals shaping the future of the monarchy.

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A calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue Game,

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your host Mark Francis. In The Express, Chris Riches writes,

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sometimes in life you just need to read the room.

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So Sarah Ferguson, having reportedly written desperate messages in Christmas

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cards to the Royal family sending apologies and expressing regrets

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for past events, is hardly the time or the place. Firstly,

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is a Christmas card the best place to apologize for

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causing months of anguish and health for your family? Maybe

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it's a season of goodwill for the likes of you

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and I, but we haven't got the name Epstein on

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our resume. Also, where do you put a Christmas card

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like that? It's hardly one for the center of the

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mantelpiece next to the carriage clock. Granddad, who's that pretty

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Windsor Castle and Royal Lodge Christmas card? From that one?

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It's from Auntie Sarah expressing her regret at historic links

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to a convicted sex trafficker and pedophile. Merry Christmas. An

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email linked to unpaid wages owned by Sarah Ferguson has

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resurfaced in unexpected circumstances after it was found among papers

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photographed on the desk of US financier Jeffrey Epstein. The

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document appeared in a series of photographs taken in twenty

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fifteen by US photographer Christopher Anderson at Epstein's home. The images,

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which were later uploaded online this week, were originally shot

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for a magazine feature that was ultimately pulled from publication.

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Two of the photographs show a close up of Epstein's

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desk with a printed email resting on top of several folders.

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The email, dated February seventeen, twenty eleven, was titled Settlement

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John O'Sullivan, and was addressed to Amanda Thirsk, who at

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the time was Private Secretary to Prince Andrew. Both Andrew

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and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, were copied into

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the correspondence. In the email, mister O'Sullivan, described as one

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of Ferguson's personal assistants, wrote, Dear Amanda, I have expressed

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my concern to you that, despite all our concerted efforts,

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I still remain unpaid. The financial arrangement have been agreed

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directly between the Duke and Duchess and I for some

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two months, yet from what I understand there is no

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plan in place to pay me the fifty nine thousand

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dollars I am now clearly owed. I agree to reduce

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the amount I am owed by the Duchess and wages

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from seventy two thousand to fifty nine thousand, in order

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to reach an agreement with the Duke and Duchess. The

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Duchess then emailed me twice to say that my offer

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was to receive this money lightly given the debts incurred,

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as an acceptable to both her and the Duke. I

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did not waive my right. Result of this non payment

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and resulting struggle, I have endured to try and support

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myself and pay for my MBA course at Columbia. One

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image also appears to show a brief reply from Prince

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Andrew reading simply er. It is not known why the email,

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which was four years old at the time the photographs

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were taken, was kept on Epstein's desk. Gb News reports

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that Sarah had suffered another financial blow, with fresh filings

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showing mounting debts at her lifestyle business, Ginger and Moss.

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According to accounts submitted to Company House, the private firm

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which was set up to sell teas, jewelry and China

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is carrying bills of around roughly four hundred sixty thousand dollars.

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The documents also show a deficit in capital and reserves

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or approximately four hundred ten thousand, with assets of about

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fifty five thousand. Sarah co owns Ginger and Moss with

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Gate Ventures Plc, a company that went into administration sixty

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years ago, owing around thirty million. According to the most

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recent insolvency report, the loan from Gate Ventures to Ginger

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and Moss remains outstanding liquidatas stated, discussions have been ongoing

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during the review period in relation to the outstanding loan

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due from Ginger and Moss. Liquidators remain hopeful of making

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a substantial recovery for the estate. An insider has claimed

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that Ferguson his attempting to pressure Queen Camilla with what

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it described as huge threats. According to Radar Online, Sarah

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Ferguson believes the Queen owes her. Insiders suggest that Ferguson

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may be prepared to reveal sensitive information about the royal

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family if her situation does not improve. One source claimed

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she could spill secrets or attempt to use them as leverage.

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While Camilla and Ferguson were once described as being like sisters.

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Sources now say the Queen has distanced herself, leaving Ferguson

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increasingly isolated as controversy continues to surround her. Royal insiders

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tell Women's Day, Sarah's well has collapsed around her and

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the opportunities to bring in money have evaporated, and she's

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completely panicking. She's not prepared and she has no prospects,

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the inside has said, adding Sarah has been telling people

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that Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice will need to take

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care of her because she feels she is too old

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to work. Royal insider Deep Crown points out she is

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sixty nine. The late Queen worked until she was ninety six.

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The idea that Sarah Ferguson is somehow beyond employment age

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while simultaneously threatening to expose royal secrets for financial gain

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is rather rich. The Palace has dealt with difficult family

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members before they managed the Duke of Windsors endless demands

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from exile. They were that Princess Margaret's various dramas, but

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those situations involved people who, for all their faults, understood

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the fundamental bargain. The institution protects you and in exchange,

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you do not actively threaten it. Sarah Ferguson appears to

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have forgotten that bargain, or perhaps she never truly understood it.

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This is someone who believes the family owes her something

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simply for having been married to a prince thirty years ago.

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They do not, and the soon as she grasps that

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uncomfortable reality, the better for everyone involved, particularly her daughters,

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who deserve far better than to be used as pawns

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in their parents' various disasters. More palacing just a moment.

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Despite the scandals surrounding Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson,

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the Royal family appeared determined that their daughters would not

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bear the consequences of their parents' actions. Princess Beatrice and

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Princess Eugenie were seen smiling and walking alongside seeingior Royals

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during the Sandringham Christmas Day Walk, projecting unity and normality.

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Royal editor Matt Wilkinson said the decision caught many by surprise.

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I was fascinated by Beatrice and Eugenie going to Sandringham

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because they were led to believe that both of them

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were going to stay away from Royal Lodge. They were

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going to stay away from Sandringham to avoid being seen

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like they're taking sides. However, they changed their minds and

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they went to Sandringham. They were standing on the steps

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outside the church, smiling, happy with the king. Royal author

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Ingrid Seward said Sarah Ferguson had previously referred to her

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daughters as the passport to the Royals, adding that Andrew

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Mountbatten Windsor is keen to keep a foot in now

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that he and Ferguson had been firmly sidelined. They are

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Andrew's only passport into the royal family now, and I'm

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absolutely sure that he persuaded them, she said. A. He

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wants to know what's going on. B he'd want to

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know what people were saying about him, and they might

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have said, oh, Papa, we want to be with you,

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and he'd say, no, I want you to go there.

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That's what's going to make me happy. Princess Eugenie and

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Princess Beatrice will not be able to inherit Royal Lodge proper,

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The expert Elliott Castle told gb News. Any form of

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inheritance has been ruled out entirely, explaining this would only

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have been possible why the lease remained in place. Once

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that lease is surrendered or terminated, there is nothing to

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pass on from a property standpoint that closes the door entirely.

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Royal Lodge would revert fully to the Crown Estate with

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no residual acclaim for Andrew or his daughters. Royal expert

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Robert Jobson told people when she was divorced from Andrew,

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her financial settlement was not huge, unlike Princess Diana's, and

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she was introduced to this lifestyle and lived it in

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a way that almost bamboozled her and has been an

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incredible debt ever since. She never got the payoff she

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should have got. A BBC investigation has found that Andrew

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mount Patten Windsor received millions of pounds from Kazakh oligarch

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Timur Kulibayev through the sale of his former home, sunning

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Hill Park, raising fresh questions about due diligence and the

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origins of the funds involved. The BBC reports that kula

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Bayev bought the Berkshire property t in two thousand and

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seven for fifteen million pounds, using money that reportedly included

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loans from a company later implicated in criminal corruption investigations.

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Sunning Hill Park was gifted to Andrew by his mother,

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Queen Elizabeth the Second, as a wedding present in nineteen

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eighty six when he married Sarah Ferguson. The property featured

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twelve bedrooms, twelve matching bathrooms and six reception rooms. At

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the time of the sale, Cooler Bayev reportedly paid around

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three million pounds above the asking price and an estimated

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seven million pounds more than the market value. The BBC

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states there is no evidence to suggest that Andrew mount

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Batten Windsor was aware of the source of the funds

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used to buy sunning Hill Park. Andrew later moved out

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of the property and relocated to Royal Lodge. There you

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have it. Plan to email us and addresses the Palace

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Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow us at Spotify, Apple,

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the Apple of Addressing. Leave it's a mass review from

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joining the show. I'm Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott.

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This is Palace Intrigue. Good terms