LONDON (CU)_Earlier this week, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, joined Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral Castle for Her Majesty’s annual summer vacation in the Scottish Highlands, amid recent headlines regarding her ex-husband Prince Andrew who, according to Reuters news agency, is being viewed by investigators as a “person of interest” over his friendship with late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, as part of their investigation into possible co-conspirators. Although the Duchess divorced the Prince in 1996, she remains close with the Royal Family and has had nothing but good things to say about her former mother-in-law, the Queen.
Recently, joining the Tea with Twiggy podcast, hosted by the former model, Ferguson shared her admiration for Her Majesty, describing Queen Elizabeth as her “greatest mentor”. “I absolutely admire the incredible way Her Majesty is so modern … and how flexible, and how understanding, and how forgiving and how generous,” the Duchess said.
During the digital audio chat with the British cultural icon, the Duchess revealed that her closeness with Her Majesty stems from her strained relationship with her late mother, who divorced her father in 1974, and moved to Argentina with a new husband Héctor Barrantes, a professional polo player. “I think to myself that honestly, my mother-in-law has been more of a mother to me than my mother. [She’s] never faltered,” the Duchess noted.
This week, Ferguson was also joined by Prince Andrew at Balmoral Castle for the Queen’s summer vacation, as he arrived at the Queen’s Scottish home shortly after Virginia Roberts Giuffre filed a lawsuit alleging that as part of the Epstein scandal, she had been forced to have sex with the prince, which he denies. The duke and other members of the Royal Family have so far remained silent regarding the lawsuit. When inquired about her ex-husband’s friendship with the disgraced American financier, in a recent digital cover story done by Town & Country, the Duchess responded by saying: “There is no question that we remain steadfast to each other in loyalty, integrity, honour.”
