Fergie’s $400K Swiss Spa Stay Fuels Fury Amid Andrew Fallout

0:03 Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Inturgue Game, your host Mark Francis. In the Standard, Melanie mcdonnagh writes, one of the causes of the royal downfall is still even now up to her old tricks. I refer obviously to Sarah Ferguson, who we discover from the Mail on Sunday was allegedly hold up in a Swiss wellness retreat for the month of January to get away from it all. Apparently she took refuge in the thirteen thousand pounds a night Paracelsus recovery clinic in Zurich following the release of those parts of the Epstein files which show her abject gratitude for Jeffrey's financial bailouts. And insiders said Sarah went just after Christmas and stayed until the end of January.

0:51 She always feels at home at Paracelsus and knows she'll get love and attention there as well as expert health treatment, which is feeling her most vulnerable. Isn't that nice? Trouble is, there's no such thing as completely free thirteen thousand pounds a night wellness stay. In due course, the Paracelsus Retreat website carried an endorsement from the former Duchess of York. They may like to reconsider that endorsement, but it's not just the venality of the transaction that is terrifying. It's that, based on the recent revelations, this was one of the reasons she and her former husband got into this situation. Fergie's debts and her need to fund them were one of the factors that put her and her former husband in the clutches of Jeffrey Epstein. God knows, I am rubbish at personal finance, but Sarah Ferguson and her complete inability to spend within her means, is in a league all of her own. Her ability to ratchet up debt by an impossibly extravagant lifestyle is itself a world away from the home life of the late Queen and that entire generation. But there comes a day of reckoning, and Sarah Ferguson pays her dues by apparently using the last shreds of her royal status to get the treatment she has a accustomed herself too. If she had wanted to redeem herself, she would be leading a life of monastic simplicity in some country hideaway butt. Nope, even in adversity, she wants love and attention. What she should be trying for is lenden austerity, preferably in a convent. Instead of that, She's reported to have managed to secure a Heidi hold in the UAE with her friend, the Crown Prince of Bahrain,

2:24 Salomon bin Ahmad al Khalifa. What do you suppose will come of that? Chris Richards has some questions about Fergie Riches, writes in The Express. For a woman who has lived most of her adult life with bankruptcy hanging over her head like the mythical sword of Damocles, Frankly, how did she afford it? Did a mystery benefactor pay her thirteen thousand pounds a day bill? And if so, why, if it's her own money, is spending so much of it when cheaper options are surely available A good idea at this stage. Given the lavish spending that seemed to make her desperate for Epstein's help, perhaps someone should simply hide her bank cards. It's claimed she was there for the entire month of January. If so, that's close to an eye watering four hundred thousand pounds. That's no small change for any royal, especially an ex duchess turfed out of the mansion, who last week closed six companies and is currently persona on grata in Blighty. Danielle Ralph for the BBC Rights Andrew is Prince William's problem too, and it makes his future job harder as he moves closer to becoming king. The stane Andrew was leaving on the reputation of the royal family matters to an heir who says he wants to modernize and change. One source who is known Prince William for decades told me William might be the change maker the country needs, but he won't want it forced on him. In this way, I spoke to several people, all of whom no members of the royal family well have a history with them, understand the challenges.

3:54 Many would count themselves as supporters of the monarchy. Others less so spoke to me off the record, which is often the frustration in this job that so few people will say things out loud. But it is my judgment that their experience and knowledge offer a greater understanding of how events have played out and are worth hearing from the media. Coverage of a recent days will be deeply unsettling for the royal household. The language is of crisis, catastrophe, extraordinary times, and the end of the monarchy as we know it. One question I asked everyone I spoke to was a question many had put to me. Did we need to hear directly from the king? Would the public have understood the king's anguish better if they had seen him personally explain why he'd stripped his brother of his titles, or even if he'd expressed his deepest concern about his brother's arrest last week on camera. Some have suggested this was a big enough moment for an address to the nation.

4:50 Public statements are for national cohesion. A royal source said, there are judgment calls to be made all the time. This is a difficult situation for the family and the institut. It is best for the authorities to examine it in a proper way. Another person who knows the workings of the royal family well told me they understood that we live in a world where feelings are shared and explored without restraint and royal silence or written public statements can feel remote, but they were cautious when it came to the King and the royal family. You always have to ask yourself if you can say something that would make the situation better. You don't want to come out and just provide content for the sake of it. My gut is that business as usual still works best. More palacing just a moment. We'll share this next one with a grain of salt. According to Closer magazine, Harry and Meghan are reportedly encouraging Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie to consider telling their side of the royal turmoil in a memoir to which we say A can you imagine? B yes, please and see don't release it when Charles is visiting the States. According to Closer, the Sussex's leave it is a great idea for the York sisters to share their perspective publicly, and are even offering to introduce them to publishers and agents they can help them put together a deal.

6:09 They could both earn a lot of money in the process and inside a claim the sisters have been defined by association for too long. If they're going to steady the ship for their own families, that may require stepping into uncomfortable territory and finally telling their story in their own voice. A professional massuse has claimed she was waved into Buckingham Palace without security checks to give Andrew a private massage that was later paid for directly from a Royal account. Speaking to The Daily Mail, Monique Gianna Aloney said I got to the room and Andrew stood there in a robe. After saying hello, he disappeared to the bathroom and came back in the nude. I averted my eyes and I was quite embarrassed. She added that beyond the initial moment, I can't actually say anything bad about Prince Andrew in my experience on that day, I only massaged him once, describing him as very nic and very gentlemanly.

7:02 Gianne Aloney said she had originally been introduced to Andrew through Glen Maxwell, explaining I first had a call from Glen Maxwell's secretary in New York. She had wanted a late night massage, but I had told her that I don't do that, so I went in the morning the next day. She claimed. During one visit to Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein was also in the room the whole time, and they were talking about purchasing some island for around twenty million pounds, which I thought was very strange and it was awkward that Epstein was just standing there. An invoice provided to the newspaper shows the seventy five pound fee for the June two thousand massage was settled by check from a Buckingham Palace account signed by Andrew's then assistant.

7:43 An unearthed interview has resurfaced in which a former Royal Protection officer described Andrew as deeply unpopular within palace circles and revealed the blunt nickname some allegedly used behind closed doors. Speaking to journalist Tara Brown, the former officer explained his official code, so if he were to come into the palace, his call sign was Purple four one. But he did have a nickname. But it's a bit rude to tell you, he added, I can tell you that you won't be able to air it, before eventually disclosing that Andrew was known as the Sea Word. The officer used the actual word, he elaborated, plain and simple, because unfortunately he upset everyone he came across. He was the most unpopular member of the royal family while I was there. He was just rude and arrogant and his sense of self entitlement was breathtaking.

8:31 Andrew reportedly believed he had found an unlikely ally in Prince Harry, a fellow spare he felt had also been cast asign by the royal family in what sources describe as a quiet attempt to rebuild relevance and edge back toward royal acceptance. According to insiders cited by Radar Online, Andrew saw shared grievances as potential common ground. He is said to have float of the idea of collaborating on charitable initiatives and even visiting Harry and Meghan in California. He reportedly on Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who maintained contact with Harry to help open a dialogue, but that tentative alignment never gained traction. Sources claim Megan Markle had no interest in welcoming Andrew into their orbit, fearing reputational damage.

9:15 What she says goes when it comes to Harry. One insider alleged, and there you have it. If you like to email us, we addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please followus on Spotify, Apple, or the app of your choice. I'm Mark Francis My thanks to John McDermott. This is palace intrigue and good terms.