Sarah Ferguson is looking for a new place to live now that her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, will be leaving Royal Lodge.
Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday, October 30, that King Charles III started the process to remove Andrew’s “style, titles and honors” due to his connection with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. As part of this process, Andrew will reportedly move out of Royal Lodge, despite having a 75-year “peppercorn lease” on the Windsor Home Park property.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence,” a statement shared with Us Weekly read. “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
This punitive royal process means that Ferguson will also have to move out of Royal Lodge, where she’s lived since 2008 despite her divorce from Andrew.
Keep scrolling for more on Ferguson’s alleged involvement in the Epstein scandal and where she will go next.
Why Does Sarah Ferguson Live at Royal Lodge?
Ferguson’s decision to move back in with her ex-husband at Royal Lodge 12 years after their contentious split raised eyebrows. Ferguson has always been coy about the exact nature of her current relationship with Andrew, other than asserting that they effectively coparented their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, despite their 1996 divorce.
She told Glamour in March 2023 that she “married a very good man,” though she was reluctant to discuss his friendship with Epstein. (Andrew confirmed in a 2019 Newsnight interview that he last visited Epstein at his New York City home in 2010 to cut off communication, though resurfaced emails seemingly contradicted his timeline and set the stage for Andrew’s fall from grace in 2025. Andrew denied any wrongdoing)
“The thing is, the girls and I are called the tripod,” Ferguson told the magazine. “But it’s very sad to see the cruelty given to another, and I feel very strongly that the most important thing is to keep Beatrice and Eugenie and the tripod, and the best way we can win is by [having] success. And my goodness, the girls are incredible at what they do.”
Where Will Sarah Ferguson Go Now?
At this stage, it’s not clear exactly where Ferguson will end up.
Prior to Buckingham Palace’s move to strip Andrew of his royal titles, The Sun reported that he was negotiating with King Charles about a deal to leave Royal Lodge.
Andrew reportedly agreed to vacate Royal Lodge if he could move to Frogmore Cottage, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle briefly lived before stepping down from royal duties.
The deal would allegedly have allowed Ferguson to move into Adelaide Cottage. Prince William and Kate Middleton lived full-time on that property until they recently started the process of relocating to an eight-bedroom mansion called Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park.
However, BBC News ultimately reported that Andrew will instead move to a private Sandringham estate in Norfolk that will be privately funded by the King. There is no word yet on whether Ferguson could still move to Adelaide Cottage.
Who Owns Royal Lodge?
The property is owned by the Crown Estate, which manages the royal family’s properties, but has been leased to Prince Andrew since 2003. Andrew allegedly paid £1 million up front for a 75-year lease, plus he agreed to fund £7.5 million for refurbishments and £2.5 million for a rent buyout.
This agreement, known as a “peppercorn lease,” has allowed Andrew to live at Royal Lodge for the past 22 years without paying significant annual rent.
The Times reported that even if Andrew could be persuaded to give up his lease of Royal Lodge, he’d be owed a £558,000 upfront payment, plus a “compensatory sum” of £185,865 each year through 2028.
What is Sarah Ferguson’s Connection to Jeffrey Epstein?
The former Duke and Duchess of York’s connections to Epstein have caused controversy for the royal family since 2010, when Andrew was photographed visiting Epstein at his New York mansion after the financier served a prison sentence for procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.
The scandal erupted anew in late 2025 due to the publication of two books — a biography of Andrew by author Andrew Lownie and a memoir by the late Virginia Giuffre, the latter of whom died by suicide at age 41 in April.
Giuffre sued Andrew for sexual assault and battery in 2021 over allegedly being assaulted by him three times as a teenager. Andrew and Andrew reached a private settlement in 2022. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing.
Giuffre‘s book Nobody’s Girl included several shocking allegations against Andrew, including sharing her version of the story behind a notorious picture of the pair taken in March 2001. She also alleged that she slept with Andrew on the first night they met when she was 17 years old.
“In the years since, I’ve thought a lot about how he behaved,” she wrote. “He was friendly enough, but still entitled — as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright.”
Meanwhile, Ferguson initially attempted to distance herself from Epstein following the disclosure of her ex-husband’s friendship with the convicted sex offender. In a 2011 interview, Ferguson called her relationship with Epstein a “gigantic error of judgment.”
Her connection to the Epstein scandal resurfaced in 2025 due to an alleged leaked email she sent Epstein after her 2011 interview. In the message, Ferguson allegedly referred to Epstein as “a supreme friend” to her family.
“I know you feel hellaciously let down by me, and I must humbly apologize to you and your heart for that,” Ferguson allegedly wrote to Epstein. “I am apologizing to you today for not replying to your email or reaching out to you. I was bedridden with fear. I was paralyzed.”
Ferguson was dropped as a patron of numerous charities due to the controversy, including Julia’s House, the Teenage Cancer Trust, the British Heart Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity and Prevent Breast Cancer.
Her spokesperson responded to the public outcry by insisting Ferguson emailed Epstein to discourage him from suing her for defamation.
“The duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been, her first thoughts are with his victims. Like many people, she was taken in by his lies,” her representative insisted in October 2025. “As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with pedophilia.”
The statement went on, “She does not resile from anything she said then. This email was sent in the context of advice the Duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.”
When Andrew announced in October 2025 that he would stop using his royal titles, Ferguson agreed to comply in a show of solidarity. She subsequently changed her social media profiles to remove “Duchess of York” from her handles.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
