Prince Philip has loudly disapproved of Sarah Ferguson since she decided to publish an autobiography detailing the ins and outs of the royal family following her messy divorce from Prince Andrew.
Although the breakdown of their marriage and the subsequent tell-all book didn’t hinder the friendship between the Duchess of York and Andrew, Philip has always opposed Fergie’s involvement in royal life, with the bitter feud finally coming to a head while on vacation with the Queen at Balmoral.
WATCH: Sarah Ferguson and Prince Philip ‘can’t be in the same room together’
According to Express.co.uk, Prince Philip’s utter disdain for the ex-wife of his son has gone so far, he has tried to evict her from their Scottish royal lodge.
Writing in a 2011 article for Vanity Fair, veteran American journalist Edward Klein detailed their fraught relationship: “As for the Queen’s irascible consort, Prince Philip, he hasn’t done much to help his wife clear the way ahead.
“Philip’s almost irrational loathing of Sarah Ferguson led the Queen, who normally shows shrewder judgment, to cast Fergie out of the royal orbit without a penny after her divorce from Andrew, which guaranteed that Fergie would turn into a high-profile beggar and an embarrassment to the throne.
“What’s more, Philip tried to bully Andrew into kicking Fergie out of her residence at Royal Lodge—a demand that placed Andrew in the awkward position of having to choose between his father and his ex-wife. He chose her.”
In further shocking royal news, Fergie and Andrew were recently forced to flee Balmoral castle as Prince Andrew’s alleged ‘relationship’ with Jeffrey Epstein continues to be scrutinised.
Despite putting on a united front for assembled cameras, when the news broke about Andrew’s former friend’s suicide in a Manhattan prison, the royal family began to close ranks.
“The Queen may have been smiling in the car with Andrew at church on Sunday morning but behind the scenes she will be deeply troubled,” remarked royal commentator Phil Dampier. “She will hope this goes away but it’s the last thing she needs at 93.”
Despite being only midway through his planned stay, Andrew hastily left the castle and was spotted boarding a private jet at Aberdeen airport.
His speedy exit prompted a debate that the Queen may be now trying to distance herself from her once favourite son.
“Andrew is way down the pecking order so if he was stripped of his title it wouldn’t matter,” a royal insider tells New Idea.
The prince’s relationship with convicted sex offender Epstein – who died by suicide earlier this month in a Manhattan jail while facing charges of sex-trafficking minors – has long been an embarrassment for the royal family.
While one of Epstein’s alleged victims has named Andrew in her testimony, Buckingham Palace has strongly denied any wrongdoing of the prince stating, “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue”.
“Andrew was always taking a risk getting involved with Epstein but he ignored advice and now it has come back to haunt him,” says the insider.
“The idea of him appearing in court in the US, even as a witness, would terrify the Queen.”
Meanwhile, Sarah also found herself hightailing it out of Balmoral and reports emerged that she had whisked Andrew away to their favourite Spanish private resort Sotogrande, without their daughter’s Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to no doubt hide Andrew away from the story.
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