Sarah Ferguson has been dubbed 'the most famous missing person in the UK' by the Daily Mirror, after she went to ground when it emerged she had secretly remained friends with Jeffrey Epstein despite publicly disowning him. According to the Daily Mirror, 'humiliating' emails between Ferguson and Epstein are seared into the minds of the public. Her current exact whereabouts and living situation remain unclear, with whispers about lavish wellness retreats and the UAE, but the full details and timeline of her secret friendship with Epstein have not been disclosed.
This disappearance coincides with the arrest last month of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office, as reported by the Daily Mirror. Ferguson did not publicly comment on Andrew's arrest. According to reports, the couple have been stripped of their regal titles and are outcasts within their former social circles, with Andrew exiled to the remote Sandringham estate. Ferguson is expected to find a new home of her own, away from the royal family.
Amid this turmoil, Ferguson managed to evade being photographed when moving out of Royal Lodge, with reports suggesting she would secretly slink in and out to collect her belongings by lying face down in the back of a Range Rover. According to the Daily Mirror, she is doing everything in her power to save herself and her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, in what a PR guru described as a 'calculated survival strategy'. She has been busily trying to find a way forward for herself and her daughters.
Financial pressures are mounting. Ferguson's income has been dramatically impacted by King Charles's decision to slash Andrew's allowance after the Queen's death, though the exact financial impact has not been specified. At 63, she finds herself facing a dramatic change in economic outlook later in life. It was reported last month that she could pen a candid memoir, following in the footsteps of Prince Harry, but some US publishers have turned down a reported £1.5 million book deal. According to the Daily Mirror, a source described her ending up with a string of rejections and zero response in a few cases, with the specific reasons for the rejections not disclosed.
To even consider cloning the late Queen's beloved dogs for financial gain is unbelievably grotesque and utterly bizarre.
In a bid to generate income, Ferguson was involved in talks to clone the late Queen's beloved corgis, Muick and Sandy, for a reality TV show, according to the Daily Mail. The idea was described by Hollywood producers as a 'bold and controversial business venture' that would involve Ferguson trying to make money by selling genetically replicated corgis to other dog lovers around the world. Producers came up with a synopsis detailing how the reality cloning show would unfold, reading that Ferguson decides to embark on a bold and controversial business venture – cloning the royal pups, while navigating the complex world of genetics and royal protocol, and grappling with her own personal demons and strained relationship with the royal family.
Ferguson met executives from Halcyon Studios in Los Angeles for a series of lunches and dinners. According to the Daily Mail, a source close to negotiations described her as pushing to get back into TV and make some money. There were Zoom meetings with TV people and email exchanges about the cloning show. Another source described her as seeming to be up for anything provided she was paid, particularly if she could do some travelling and meet rich aristocrats who might like to own a corgi.
However, the project faced significant hurdles. Pet cloning is highly contentious, with experts warning it can produce horrible abnormalities. While cloned dogs typically sell for up to £75,000 in the US, where the process is legal, it is not legal in the UK for a company to produce replica animals, other than in research settings, though it is legal to send a skin sample from an animal to the US for cloning. The cloning show project was ultimately abandoned. Royal author Richard Fitzwilliams said that to even consider cloning the late Queen's beloved dogs for financial gain is unbelievably grotesque and utterly bizarre, according to the Daily Mail.
The context for this venture lies in Ferguson's inheritance and financial motivations. In May 2023, she was seeking ways to leverage what little remained of her royal status. She was entrusted with the care of the corgis following the Queen's death eight months earlier. Ferguson was thrilled to learn she had been remembered in the Queen's will, but surprised to learn that rather than jewellery or money, the Queen left her two of her beloved corgis. The idea of monetising the corgis was floated as part of her efforts to navigate her new reality.