Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew have remained the best of friends despite their divorce in 1996 - and it has prompted speculation they will remarry in the future
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's relationship is certainly unusual.
The couple divorced in 1996 after ten years of marriage - but they continue to live and holiday together. And it has led to continuous speculation that they will one day remarry. Not so, according to one royal expert, who has revealed why it's unlikely the pair will ever tie the knot again.
Speaking on GB News this year, Victoria Arbiter commented: "There's long been speculation regarding whether or not Andrew and Fergie will remarry. But their current situation seems to suit them both well so why complicate things?" Andrew and Sarah have known each other since they were children but it wasn't until 1985 that they started dating after being seated together at Royal Ascot that year.
They got engaged nine months later on February 19, 1986 - his 26th birthday - with Andrew presenting his wife-to-be a beautiful ruby engagement ring. Their wedding took place at Westminster Abbey on 23 July 1986 and two years later, they welcomed their first child, Princess Beatrice , followed by Princess Eugenie in 1990. But cracks had begun to appear in their relationship. Andrew's naval career saw him away from the family for long periods of time. And in 1991 they split, with their divorce finalised in 1996.
Speaking to US TV host Ernie Manouse in 2010, Sarah said: "My deal was that I was marrying my man, who happened to be a prince and a naval officer. But what I got was not the man, I got the palace and didn't get him... and the courtiers told me I had to go to Buckingham Palace and he had to go to sea. For our marriage, I saw him 40 days a year."
Despite the end of their marriage, Fergie and Andrew have remained close and she has stood by the disgraced duke after he was embroiled in a sex abuse scandal, which he vehemently denies. The pair lived at Sunninghill Park in Ascot while they were married, but in 2004, Andrew moved into Royal Lodge. Since 2008, Sarah has also used it as her base whenever she is in the UK so the former couple can better co-parent - and grandparent.
Writing in the Sunday Times , Sarah explained why she continues to stay at Royal Lodge with her ex, saying: "I travel a lot and I've always been able to make wherever I am home. If I am staying in a hotel I have the same family photographs and scented candles around me. When I'm in the UK I'm lucky enough to stay at Royal Lodge. I wouldn't call it my home as that would be presumptuous," she added.
The exes have also been known to holiday together; in 2019, Sarah and Andrew enjoyed a getaway to Bahrain with Beatrice and her now-husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
In 2010, Sarah even stated that if they had their time again, they would stand up to those who pushed them apart. She said: "Both Andrew and I… both of us say now if we could go back we would definitely play it differently and we should have learnt how to play the chess game differently. And maybe we have still been together because we would have said 'no' to being separated just after our wedding."
In 2017, she set tongues wagging further when she told an Australian radio show that they "never really left each other".
"I think the love I had for him then, is the love I still have for him now. I still married the best and the greatest gentleman that I know. We are the happy ever after, it's just not about marriage. It's more about this extraordinary friendship we have," she has said.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2018 , Sarah reiterated how "united" the family will always be, despite all they'd been through, and claimed she was "divorced to" Andrew, not divorced from him. "We're the happiest divorced couple in the world. We're divorced to each other, not from each other," she explained. "My duty is to him. I am so proud of him. I stand by him and always will. The way we are is our fairytale." The Duchess continued: "The Yorks are a united family. We've shown it."
