EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Ferguson Branded 'Ultimate Royal Family Leech' Over Her 'Outrageous Retirement Finance Demand' From King Charles
Sarah Ferguson is now being labeled a 'leech.'
May 31 2026, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
Sarah Ferguson has been branded the "ultimate royal family leech" by critics amid claims she is quietly seeking long-term financial protection from King Charles in exchange for snubbing offers to agree to a potentially explosive tell-all interview about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal that has engulfed her and her former husband, Andrew.
As RadarOnline.com has reported, the 66-year-old former Duchess of York has remained one of the monarchy's most controversial peripheral figures since divorcing the former Prince Andrew, also 66, in 1996, despite continuing to live with him at Royal Lodge and publicly defending him through years of scrutiny over their longstanding friendship with disgraced pedophile Epstein.
'The Ultimate Royal Family Leech'
Critics have accused Ferguson of being a leech.
Fresh speculation surrounding Ferguson's plans has emerged after royal biographer Andrew Lownie suggested she could be negotiating financial security from the Royal Family while weighing lucrative offers for a television interview or memoir.
A royal insider told us: "There are people around the institution who see Fergie as the ultimate royal survivor – but also as someone who always finds herself back at the Palace door asking for financial support or protection. Critics think the idea of negotiating silence in return for security in the form of a fat annual pension from the King would go down terribly with the public. She is essentially the ultimate royal family leech, and hard-pressed UK citizens are not fans of freeloaders like her."
Another source close to royal circles added: "The fear among some senior figures is that any major interview discussing Epstein, Andrew and the York family chaos would reopen one of the darkest chapters of recent royal history just as Charles is trying to stabilize the monarchy, and he may be likely to effectively buy Sarah's silence by giving her a pension to shut up for the rest of her life."
Royal Book Revives York Scandal
Biographer Andrew Lownie wrote a detailed book about the York family.
Lownie, whose updated version of his recently released book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, has revived scrutiny around the York family, has openly questioned whether Ferguson could be seeking a form of private settlement.
He said: "That may be what Fergie's negotiating at the moment. Can she get a nice pension from them and not have to do an Oprah interview?"
Lownie also claimed Andrew and Ferguson's daughters, Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 36, currently occupy an uneasy and inconsistent position within the monarchy.
He noted: "The fact that they are still swanning around the Middle East, using their titles... it doesn't send out the right signals if you want to work your passage back. It's confusing."
Lownie added: "I think it's a very schizophrenic relationship at the moment with the royals and Beatrice and Eugenie."
Prince William And Princess Kate 'Hardline' On Yorks
Prince William and Kate Middleton want to keep the messy family at a distance, sources claimed.
He continued: "One minute they're very publicly being told they're not going to be invited to Ascot, then they are going. You get the sense of distancing, and I think there are possibly two schools of thought here. There's Camilla, William, and Kate, who see the reputational damage and want to keep them at arm's length, and then there's Charles, who is a bit sentimental and feels obligated to be protective."
The renewed attention on the York family comes as Charles, 77, continues attempting to streamline the monarchy while managing lingering reputational damage from Andrew's disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview with journalist Emily Maitlis.
The interview effectively ended Andrew's public royal duties after he attempted to explain his friendship with Epstein.
A palace source said, "William and Catherine are far more hardline when it comes to reputational risk. There is a belief among some younger royals that the York scandals continue dragging the institution backwards at a time when Charles is trying to modernize it."
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Ex-Prince Andrew gave a bad television interview to a reporter in 2019.
Lownie's updated biography also includes allegations about Andrew's past behavior toward staff and claims he once kicked a dog during a royal shooting trip.
Despite years of controversy surrounding Andrew, Ferguson has consistently defended her former husband in public and has remained closely intertwined with royal life even after their divorce, continuing to attend family events and royal gatherings alongside senior members of the monarchy.
