Sarah Ferguson Wanted One Simple Thing From The Queen After Her Royal Divorce

The following includes references to disordered eating.

When Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor divorced Sarah Ferguson in 1996, his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, expected her former daughter-in-law to want a big settlement. Ferguson would have been well within her rights to seek financial security, but she had something else in mind. "When I met with Her Majesty about it, she asked, 'What do you require, Sarah?' and I said, 'Your friendship,'" Ferguson recalled in a 2007 interview with Harper's Bazaar. Elizabeth was taken aback. After all, everyone in the queen's inner circle believed Andrew's ex would ask for money.

However, Ferguson believed nothing could compare to staying on good terms with Elizabeth. "I wanted to be able to say, 'Her Majesty is my friend'— not fight her nor have lawyers saying, 'Look, she is greedy.' I left my marriage knowing I'd have to work. I have," she continued. That's not to say she didn't get anything. After proceedings were finalized, she walked away with a $475,000 cash payout. While not nothing, the settlement is pretty modest for British monarchy standards. For the sake of comparison, Prince Diana got a whopping $22.5 million in her divorce from Prince Charles that same year.

Ferguson got what she asked for. She retained her close relationship with Elizabeth until her death in September 2022, bonding over their shared love of horses and dogs. "Even after her divorce, she would continue her great friendship with Her Majesty, by walking the dogs in Frogmore and chatting," a source told The Telegraph in 2022. In fact, Ferguson — along with Andrew — took on the responsibility of caring for Elizabeth's beloved corgis after she died, which must stand as testament to the queen's trust in her former daughter-in-law. 

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson's divorce hit Queen Elizabeth II hard. Andrew and Ferguson split in 1992 — the same year Prince Charles split from Princess Diana and Princess Anne divorced her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips. Combined with a devastating fire at Windsor Castle that November, Elizabeth famously described 1992 as annus horribilis, Latin for "horrible year." The tabloids could not get enough, and that included coverage of Ferguson's toe-sucking scandal.

As difficult as all of it was, Elizabeth moved on stoically as ever, and she and Ferguson worked it out. Part of the reason the queen is said to have been able to put her differences with her former daughter-in-law aside is Ferguson's unwavering loyalty to Andrew and the royal family as a whole. Despite divorcing in 1996, Ferguson continued to support her ex-husband, who has been plagued by scandals. Ferguson and Andrew's post-divorce relationship is so strong that they even lived together at Royal Lodge from 2008 until their eviction in early 2026.

Elizabeth paid it forward by offering support to Ferguson amid her own controversies and personal struggles. The late queen's last words to her former daughter-in-law reflected that dynamic. "'Sarah, remember that yourself is good enough.' It makes me cry," Ferguson recalled Elizabeth telling her before her death in a 2024 interview with The Times. That is a message she had tried to impart to Ferguson since the days she struggled with disordered eating and faced public backlash over her weight as a newly postpartum mother. "I believed my critics. But the Queen never lost me," she said.

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).