The enduring bond between Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has long fascinated the public, not just because of their royal status, but due to their decision to continue sharing a home years after their split.

Fergie famously dubbed them “the happiest divorced couple,” backed by a surprising choice behind palace doors. Though one of the driving forces behind their divorce was Sarah’s need to pursue commercial work, a job forbidden to working royals, she chose not to push for a massive financial payout from Queen Elizabeth II.

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Instead, her only request from the monarch was her ongoing friendship. In an interview with Harpers Bazaar in 2007, Sarah recalled that she asked for “friendship, not money.”

Sarah said: “When I met with Her Majesty about it, she asked, ‘What do you require, Sarah?’ and I said, ‘Your friendship,’ which I think amazed her because everyone said I would demand a big settlement. But I wanted to be able to say, ‘Her Majesty is my friend.’

Sarah and Andrew legally separated in 1992, when his naval career would only allow the couple to see each other for 40 days a year for the first five years, but finalised their divorce in 1996.

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“I still see, love, and admire [the Queen.] I didn’t want a divorce but had to because of circumstance,” she confessed to the publication, describing it as “the most painful time of my life.”

Living arrangements post divorce

In the immediate aftermath of their divorce, Sarah lived at their former family home, Sunninghill Park, with their daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, before moving to a rented home in Windlesham, Surrey.

In 2008, Sarah moved back in with the former Prince Andrew at Royal Lodge in Windsor, where they stayed until he was forced to relinquish the keys and vacate to the Sandringham Estate in February 2026.

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Discussing their unusual living arrangements at the same home, Andrew Lownie, royal author of the book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, revealed there wasn’t “much contact” between the two of them.

“Sarah had her own set of apartments at the opposite end of the house, and although they did meet and speak on the phone, I don’t think there was much contact. There was always this rather cynical idea that he was her calling card for business and seeing members of the royal family,” he penned.

Sarah and Andrew’s relationship now following fall from grace

Despite vowing to stand by her ex-husband Andrew in the past, Sarah appears to be distancing herself from the disgraced former Duke since his fall from grace. The closeness between the exes, both linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, seems to be disintegrating over time.

In October, after Andrew announced that he would no longer use his title or honours, a source told HELLO! that Sarah would “always support her former husband’s decisions and do anything for the King”. They added: “For her, this will not make a big difference.”

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The decision to move to separate exile homes also speaks volumes. Reclusive Andrew is holed up at Marsh Farm on the Sandringham estate, while Sarah has been on a “sofa surfing” tour of the world, staying with close friends including her now-late ex Paddy McNally and at luxury clinics in Switzerland and Austria.

The current image of the family seems to be a far cry from how Sarah once described them to HELLO!. “A table goes best with four legs,” she told us in 2017. “A table can’t stand on three legs, so you have the Duke and I, and the two girls. We’re a family unit and we lead by example.”