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Fergie: chat show queen?
Sarah Ferguson reportedly wants to become a U.S. chat show host, hoping it will help ex-husband Prince Andrew pay his bills. TV producer Amy Rosenblum told the Mail on Sunday that she met the Duchess of York at New York’s Regency Hotel last month and discussed possible formats.
Rosenblum, former producer of NBC’s Today show, said: “Sarah told me, ‘I want a show! I want a show!’ I did a pilot with her about 15 years ago. We were up against Ellen DeGeneres and ultimately they went with Ellen. But Sarah was really good when we did the pilot. We have been friends since then.”
Rosenblum declined to say what, if anything, was being planned for Fergie, but an insider at ABC TV told the paper: “Fergie could reasonably expect to earn around £2million a year, but that figure would go up considerably should her show be a hit. She’s always gone down well in America. She’s never been too proud to promote the heck out of anything, be it one of her books or WeightWatchers. Americans respect someone who hustles… Ellen has retired, so there is a gap in the market.”
The paper says Ferguson “is reportedly keen to help bankroll” Andrew’s £2million worth of essential maintenance work at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park. King Charles has elected not to evict the couple from the property, at least for now.
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Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, left, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York at Royal Ascot, June 2015.
Toby Melville/Reuters/Livepic
A source told the Mail on Sunday: “It’s true Sarah wants to help Andrew stay in what she considers their family home. She lives at Royal Lodge when she’s in the UK. It’s very much their family’s base. Andrew has lost so much. She will do everything she can to help him keep the house, even though it may prove untenable in the long term.”
One woman who is in touch with members of Andrew’s inner circle told the paper of his current mental state: “He rides his horses and goes for long walks but he is a lost soul and veers between bafflement and feeling bereft by the turn of events,” the source told the paper. “He has always maintained his innocence and those close to him believe him absolutely. He is struggling. He was able to pay for the emergency roof repairs but that was very much an interim fix. The overall repair bill is considerably higher and you have to factor in the day-to-day running costs of a place like Royal Lodge. Money, or the lack of it, has been a constant in Andrew and Sarah’s relationship. She will do everything she can to support him now, just as she always has.”
Charles ‘subtly punishing’ Harry
King Charles is “subtly punishing” Prince Harry—angry over the latter’s “betrayal,” and will only communicate with him through palace advisers. Royal expert Duncan Larcombe, speaking to the Sun, also says Prince William and Harry’s relationship is “irretrievably broken.”
Duncan said: “It appears that King Charles’ approach towards Harry now is business as usual—‘if you want to see me you need to make an appointment’. Harry will have to get past the grey suits and jump through hoops to talk to his father. It’s very standoffish but I think that’s a way that the king is subtly punishing his son.”
Last month, when Harry was in Britain for the night before heading to the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf, Charles invited him to stay at Balmoral—an offer Harry turned down, after being told there was no room for him to stay on royal grounds because the staff were in Scotland.
As The Daily Beast reported Friday, Charles is focused on keeping Prince Andrew close in the family fold—even after the (vigorously denied) allegations of sexual assault made against him and his multi-million dollar payment to accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, reacts as she, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Queen Camilla and King Charles attend the state funeral and burial of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, in London, Britain, September 19, 2022.
Reuters/Toby Melville
A friend of Andrew’s confirmed to The Daily Beast that Andrew believes he is in the king’s good books compared to Prince Harry: “If you were Charles would you rather have a problem that looks like Harry and Meghan or a problem that looks like Andrew? Andrew has taken his punishment, withdrawn from public life and done whatever has been asked of him. He knows he has damaged the monarchy. So have Harry and Meghan (Markle). The difference is [Andrew] deeply regrets it and it was not intentional, whereas Harry and Meghan deliberately set out to cause as much damage to Charles and (Queen) Camilla as they could to sell books and TV shows. That’s an entirely different matter. Disloyalty is far and away the number one crime in that family.”
Charles remains particularly angry about Harry’s casting of Camilla as a chief villain within the royal family—while publicizing his memoir Spare, Harry told Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes that his stepmother had left “bodies in the street” in her royal ascent.
“The king is still keeping those channels of communication open, where William isn’t. The brothers’ line of communication is completely broken.”
— Duncan Larcombe
“Harry has said some deeply hurtful things about Camilla, and yet the King will still correspond with his son, albeit not directly,” Larcombe said. “It’s remarkable really, because when Charles became king he said he loved Harry and Meghan which was a huge olive branch—which Harry then took, snapped in half and then hit him with it. That said, the king is still keeping those channels of communication open, where William isn’t. The brothers’ line of communication is completely broken.”
Larcombe said William was sad about the state of his relationship with Harry, but also angry at his and Meghan Markle’s attacks on Kate Middleton.
“I’m sure William is full of regret that things are the way they are, as they were once very close,” Larcombe told the Sun. “They had a very strong bond as brothers and always defended each other. But Harry has offered up a betrayal that no brother should put up with… William was deeply upset by the accusations towards Kate and how Harry and Meghan almost deliberately tried to drag Kate’s name through the mud for their own gain. I can’t see how William can get past that.”
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Every kid’s dream
A trio of car-related stories have surfaced in the British tabloids this weekend. A young Prince Charles, as he then was, was famously photographed at the wheel of a toy car in Balmoral in 1952. His motor was powered by pedals, but his grandson Prince Louis has an all-electric model, the Sun reports.
Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales with Prince Louis of Wales as they walk down the ramp of a C17 plane during their visit to the Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford on July 14, 2023 in Fairford, Britain.
Chris Jackson/Pool via Reuters
Louis, 5, famous for his hilarious antics and funny faces at public events, likes to take his vehicle (supervised, of course) for a spin on the 100 acres of private land that make up the Frogmore Estate which is criss-crossed by farm tracks. An insider told the Sun: “He can use the paths that are running through Frogmore Gardens like a racetrack and it is completely private. The queen used to use the area to go riding and take her dogs. Now Andy and Fergie go there with the corgis. It’s quiet and away from the public so ideal for Louis.” Uncle Andrew has also been spotted riding in the vicinity in recent days.
Ringing the changes
The second item of royal car news: the royals might be switching up their vehicles. Having long been patrons of the Land Rover—see Prince Philip‘s funeral where he arranged for his coffin to be conveyed on one specially modified to his own design—and its swankier cousin, the Range Rover, the family are now being tempted by two other British brands—the well-known Aston Martin and upstart vehicle maker Ineos.
The Telegraph reports that the family “had the run of both a new £65,000 Ineos Grenadier 4×4—conceived as a successor to the classic Land Rover Defender which is no longer manufactured— and a state of the art £160,000 Aston Martin DBX707,” during the summer at Balmoral.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is driven through Windsor in an open-top Range Rover with Prince Philip on her 90th Birthday, in Windsor, Britain April 21, 2016.
Reuters/John Stillwell/Pool
However, one source said: “As neither is electric, they may not lease them out permanently, but they have all had a lot of fun with them.”
Charles was given an Aston Martin DB6 MKII Vantage Volante as a 21st birthday present from his parents, which has been converted to run on wine. In a 2004 speech at the Aston Martin factory, he said: “One of the reasons I have been a huge fan of Aston Martin for 34 years is because I have always recognized that it is a real work of art. I am devoted to my 34-year-old car, which I do love. It rattles a bit, like I do, but otherwise it has done nothing but give real pleasure and enjoyment all these years.”
Sly
Thirdly, the Mail speculates that the Rolls Royce used to convey Meghan Markle and her mom Doria Ragland to church on the morning of the royal wedding—a maroon-colored Phantom IV, since you ask—may have been pushed on her as a nasty joke by peeved courtiers, as it was also the vehicle which was used to transport Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, to the funeral of her husband, the Duke of Windsor who was forced to abdicate his role as Edward VIII to marry her.
The Daily Mail’s Sebastian Shakespeare suggests that the car may have been foisted on an unwitting Meghan by detractors in the palace.
Euro royal dinner date
The next big date in the diary for the Euro Royals is Prince Christian of Denmark’s 18th birthday later this month—the Danish palace this week posted a video of courtiers posting invitations—and the Mail is working up to it with this delicious piece about whether or not Princess Marie Chiara of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies will be Christian’s arm.
Denmark’s Prince Christian arrives at the finish line at the Amalienborg Castle square, after participating in a One Mile Family run, during the Royal Run event in Copenhagen, Denmark, May 29, 2023.
Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via Reuters
Rumours circulated over the summer that Chiara, who is already 18, and Christian were close this year after they were spotted at the Monaco Grand Prix. Chiara, attentive readers may recall from The Daily Beast’s coverage, has a glamorous sister and mother, Princess Carolina and Duchess Camilla respectively, with the latter sometimes dubbed her “Momager.”
Chiara subsequently told an Italian newspaper: “We’ve known each other since we were little, my father Carlo is godfather to his younger sister,” and posted, “While we all enjoy dreaming of fairytales, what truly matters is reality.”
This week in royal history
A year ago on Tuesday William and Kate visited BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat show to take part in a special episode about young people and mental health on World Mental Health Day.
On Thursday, happy 5th anniversary to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank. Prince Andrew’s younger daughter and her husband were married on October 12, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Unanswered questions
Is Fergie set to become to new Oprah? And a perennial puzzle: Can Harry and Charles, and Harry and William, ever find a way to communicate and get their relationships back on track?
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