Sarah Ferguson is yet to find a new property because she won’t move in with her ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and their children can’t offer her a permanent home, it was claimed today.
The former Duchess of York is in the midst of a ‘housing crisis’ and is clinging on to the hope of finding a new place in Windsor, a source close to her has said.
But the 66-year-old will have to ‘lower her expectations’ about the standard of her next home after decades in the 30-room Royal Lodge.
Fergie is said to be in a ‘fragile’ state over her fall from grace, telling friends her recent travails were ‘not good for my mental health’.
Andrew and Fergie lost their titles and their Windsor mansion, previously home to the Queen Mother, over their long friendship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
But while Andrew is begrudgingly off to Sandringham, Ms Ferguson ‘will not be moving in’ because she ‘would prefer to stay in the Windsor area’, a friend has said.
‘Relations are warmer between Ferguson and the couple’s daughters, but no offer of permanent accommodation has been extended to their mother’, according to The Times.
‘For now, Andrew and Sarah have a housing crisis. It may mean that they have to lower their expectations about the sort of lifestyle they wish to lead’.
Andrew and Sarah Ferguson are in the midst of a ‘housing crisis’ and Fergie wants to stay in Windsor but may have to lower her expectations
Andrew was pictured driving from Royal Lodge today
Beatrice lives in the Cotswolds while Eugenie splits her time between Kensington Palace and a Portuguese villa so neither can give their mother a roof over her head.
The sisters are said to have offered their mother a place to stay when she needs it – but not permanently.
Andrew’s move to Marsh Farm in Norfolk could even be ‘in doubt’ because he is ‘unhappy’ with the security there, according to the new report.
In a piece on what life will be like for Andrew when he turns 66 next month, The Times’ senior royal writer Kate Mansey says there is still a row raging amongst the royals over Marsh Farm.
The King is spending large amounts upgrading the property and its grounds – but his younger brother is said to be pushing back on moving in.
Ms Mansey also claims that Andrew’s siblings Princess Anne and Prince Edward remain in touch with Andrew and are worried about him.
‘He has a few loyal friends and some sources close to the royal family suspect that Charles’s steely approach may have been too tough’, she writes.
‘Despite extensive work beginning on Marsh Farm, however, it is understood that even this is now in doubt.
‘A huge security overhaul is required to make it safe for Andrew. Builders have been working to install secure gates and alarm systems, but the former duke is understood to be unhappy with the arrangement, and others have questioned how appropriate the accommodation is for such a high-profile figure’.
Some have claimed he is holding out for Wood Farm, home of his father Prince Philip following his retirement from public life in 2017.
But whatever the outcome for Andrew, his ex-wife will not move with him.
In an unusual domestic arrangement Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson have been living at Royal Lodge together despite ending their marriage some three decades ago. But they will no longer be under the same roof, it is said
The former couple have also been ostracised by senior royals such as King Charles and Prince William – and it has strained their relationships with their children Beatrice and Eugenie.
Eugenie is reported to have cut off contact with Andrew, although there are contradictory claims about whether their relationship is completely over.
It came as friends claimed there are deep concerns about the ‘fragile’ state of both Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as their exit from Royal Lodge looms.
The Daily Mail revealed this week that the dwindling number who remain close to the couple have become increasingly worried about them both in recent weeks.
Fergie has been prone to bursting into tears on a daily basis – while the collapse of Andrew’s social support network has already left him demoralised ahead of a move that will see him ever more cut off, they say.
Andrew, 65, who was stripped of his royal titles in October after being caught lying over his involvement with the financier.
Amid heightened concerns about Andrew’s deteriorating mental health, police not only revoked his firearms licence late last year, but also reportedly took his gun collection away for safekeeping at other royal properties.
After the former couple were forced out of of Royal Lodge (pictured) Andrew is moving to Marsh Farm in Norfolk on his brother Charles’s estate. But it is unclear where Sarah Ferguson will be going
A van arrives at Royal Lodge earlier this month, on the Windsor estate, as Andrew prepares to move out
In a fresh blow for Andrew, his daughter Eugenie, 35, who established The Anti-Slavery Collective to help counter sex trafficking, is said to have taken a dim view of her father’s refusal to apologise to Epstein’s victims, and did not visit him at Christmas.
As he prepares to head to Norfolk within the next two weeks, his eventual home on the Sandringham Estate, Marsh Farm, is being worked on by builders and far from ready, according to royal sources.
‘He’ll probably have to live in Sandringham House until Marsh Farm is finished,’ said a source.
The four or five staff employed at Royal Lodge in the roles of butler, chef, gardener and housekeepers, are being paid off.
‘They obviously don’t want to move to Norfolk, and as most of them are nearing retirement age, they’ve basically been made redundant on generous terms,’ said the source.
‘I suspect that Andrew will have more of a skeleton staff when he eventually moves into Marsh Farm, as it’s not realistic to employ so many people to look after one person on their own.’
As the name suggests, Marsh Farm is on a flood plain and below sea level, with nearby residents advised to sign up for Environment Agency alerts in case local measures fail to stop a torrent of water from a nearby bog and the North Sea a mile away.
It is understood that Andrew made his first visit to the house in Wolferton last week.
As the name suggests, Marsh Farm (pictured) is on a flood plain and below sea level, with nearby residents advised to sign up for Environment Agency alerts
An engineer installs Sky Broadband at Marsh Farm, where Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is expected to move to. Pictured earlier this month
As Andrew prepares to head to Norfolk within the next two weeks, his eventual home on the Sandringham Estate, Marsh Farm, is being worked on by builders and far from ready, according to royal sources
A friend told The Sun: ‘It was the first time he’s seen his new house and he is resigned to the fact that this is his future.
‘He’s come to the conclusion that he has to get on with the rest of his life and accepts he has to make the best of it.’
Andrew reportedly wanted to live at Wood Farm on Sandringham, which is a five-bedroom cottage near the stables and pheasant shooting grounds, but there were concerns that would leave him ‘too close’ to the rest of the family.
Unlike Eugenie, Beatrice, 37, is walking the delicate path of maintaining contact with her father.
Some of those close to Andrew’s ex-wife Fergie are also worried about her wellbeing.
Fergie, 66, told friends recently that the withdrawal of titles and royal accommodation from herself and Andrew, driven by Prince William and King Charles, was ‘not good for my mental health’.
She confided: ‘They are out for blood in every way.’
According to a source close to the former Duchess of York: ‘She’s on a knife edge and bursting out crying several times a day. She’s really not sure what the future holds.’
While various theories have been floated about regarding where Fergie will eventually live after her ex-husband heads to Norfolk, it’s still unclear.
Some believe she will opt to spend much of her time at a luxury Portuguese villa of Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank in the exclusive CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club on the Alentejan coastal strip south of Lisbon.
Prices at the gated resort start at around £3.6million for a villa and A-list neighbours in the area would include Madonna, F1 driver Max Verstappen and shoe tycoon Christian Louboutin.
Beatrice invited Andrew to the christening of her 11-month-old daughter Athena in London last month but, perhaps tellingly, he did not attend a party held afterwards in a local pub.
It is not clear whether Eugenie spoke to her father at the celebration.
