Where’s Fergie…? Ex-Duchess of York’s whereabouts is a thriller as she’s homeless after Royal Lodge eviction – and Epstein emails disgrace

As Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaves Windsor for exile on the Sandringham estate, the whereabouts of his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has come under new scrutiny – and sparked fevered speculation.

Fergie, 66, has not been seen since December when she attended the christening of her granddaughter Athena in London.

Since then she has completely vanished from public view while at the same time she has been the subject of a string of particularly sordid revelations about her relationship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

And her disappearance has sparked a slew of theories about where she may be hiding out – with one royal expert today speculating that the disgraced ex-royal may have been taken in by long-time friend Richard Branson on his Caribbean island.

Royal Biographer Andrew Lownie said speculation is flying around Establishment circles that the former Duchess is currently living on Necker Island – the private tropical bolthole owned by billionaire Sir Richard.

Mr Lownie said: ‘I think Sarah Ferguson may well be staying on Necker Island. He (Sir Richard Branson) is a very good friend of hers and he always offers accommodation.’

‘We know she has been taken in by one of her friends and he’s the sort of person who would offer her what she wants.

‘She would want to go somewhere sunny. She may be going skiing but I think a remote island like Necker is the best bet.’

But no sooner had Mr Lownie’s thoughts been made public than there was a furious denial on behalf of Sir Richard, whose name also appears hundreds of times throughout the so-called Epstein files.

A statement from Virgin Group spokesperson insisted: ‘Sir Richard has had no contact with Sarah Ferguson following the release of the Epstein files and, contrary to some media reports, can confirm she is not on Necker Island either.’

A Virgin source added that Sir Richard has gone on the record saying he believes Epstein’s actions were abhorrent and he fully supports the right to justice for the victims – and insisted Branson had never been friends with Epstein.

Meanwhile other well-placed sources believe Fergie may be avoiding the public eye – and the attention of photographers – by secretly moving into a modest granny-annexe at her daughter Beatrice’s £3.5million Cotswolds home.

Tucked away in a quaint village, the mansion has a small one-bedroom former cattle shed, which could be the final destination for the royal outcast.

There have also been theories that she could be staying in an Alpine ski lodge or have been loaned the use of a London flat by a wealthy friend.

Wherever she is staying, Fergie – who had recently been described by royal sources as ‘extremely fragile’ – is likely to have been further unsettled by the final tranche of Epstein documents which was released on Monday.

These contained more compromising communications between the paedophile financier and Sarah – of a gravity worse than anything seen in the previous years of the scandal’s unfolding.

Indeed arguably only Lord Mandelson has come out worse from the latest revelations, as any suggestion that it was only her ex-husband Andrew in their household who had been seriously compromised by association with Epstein now looks destroyed forever.

Bombshell emails from the royal to the paedophile revealed that Sarah had taken her daughters to see the disgraced financier, who she called her ‘pillar’, days after he was released from prison for child sex crimes.

In another string of flirtatious messages she joked about marrying Epstein while trying to set him up with a ‘single’ friend of hers with a ‘great body’ – despite knowing he was a convicted sex offender.

Since Fergie and Andrew were told late last year they would be kicked out of the Royal Lodge – and stripped of their titles – there has been much speculation about where the former Duchess will end up.

While Andrew was told he would be moved to a different home, paid for by King Charles, Sarah has not been so lucky and has been turfed out to find her own accommodation.

The former Duchess is now said to be in her own so-called ‘housing crisis’ and is hoping to find a new home in Windsor.

She is yet to find a new permanent property because she won’t move in with her ex and the pair’s children can’t offer them a residence, it has been claimed.

This week, in the middle of the night, Andrew is believed to have vacated his £30million, 31-room Royal Lodge – three months after handing back his lease.

He will now be temporarily staying at Wood Farm Cottage on the King’s private Sandringham estate before moving permanently next door to Marsh Farm by the start of April, upon completion of renovations.

And while Andrew is begrudgingly off to Sandringham, Ms Ferguson ‘will not be moving in’ because she ‘would prefer to stay in the Windsor area’, a source close to her said.

‘Relations are warmer between Ferguson and the couple’s daughters, but no offer of permanent accommodation has been extended to their mother’, one report added.

‘For now, Andrew and Sarah have a housing crisis. It may mean that they have to lower their expectations about the sort of lifestyle they wish to lead.’

Despite rumours the former Duchess of York is off sunning herself on an exotic island or taking refuge with her daughters, Fergie is actually at ‘an all-time low’ – most likely cooped up in a ‘dark room somewhere not wanting to get out of bed’ – according to Royal Expert Phil Dampier.

He added: ‘You would think one of her daughters would put her up at least temporarily but I can imagine at the moment they want to keep their distance.

‘From what I am told it is not true that Eugenie has cut off all ties with Andrew and I don’t think she would have cut off all ties with her mother either.

‘But certainly, the tripod as they always called themselves, Fergie and her two daughters, inevitably bound together – is under a great deal of stress and their appearances together will be very limited in the future.

‘I know that behind the scenes they are both worried about her mental condition and that she is at an all-time low. She will try to dig herself out of it but it’s probably gone too far this time.

Mr Dampier added: ‘It’s going to be fascinating to see how she copes without living under the same roof as her ex-husband Andrew as that’s always been a protection for her. A with security and B financially as it is not costing her anything.

‘I am sure up until a couple of months ago, after she had her titles frozen, knowing her, after that happened she probably thought she could dust herself down and reinvent herself once again.

‘But I think really, since the new revelations in this latest tranche of Epstein emails – and there possibly could be more – this could be curtains for her.’

The former Duchess has continued to remain silent on her friendship with Epstein despite the latest release of documents, including dozens of email exchanges between her and the paedophile.

In one exchange, she asked Epstein to pay almost $15,000 for flights for herself, Beatrice and Eugenie to fly to the US to visit him just 48 hours after he was released from prison.

Sarah said she was happy to fly from Heathrow to the United States in business class but her daughters would be in economy, the email sent on July 24, 2009, said.

In a separate email, Fergie told the sex offender he should marry her on a number of occasions in the months after he left jail following a 13-month sentence for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.

In the exchange from September 17, 2009, she wrote about one woman: ‘You can marry her too. She is single and [sic] a great body’. She added: ‘Ok well marry me and then we will employ her’.

The new emails also shed new light on a lunch that Fergie had with Epstein and her two daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie after his time behind bars.

On July 24, 2009, two days after her boss left prison, Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff emailed him asking him to approve payment for the Yorks’ travel costs.

It is unknown if Epstein paid for the flights but the three women did travel to the US days later.

The Daily Mail also revealed how Fergie sent an email to Jeffrey Epstein claiming that ‘no woman has ever left the Royal family with her head’ and that she was being ‘1,000 per cent hung out to dry’ after appearing to accept cash for access to her ex-husband.

The former Duchess of York said in July 2010 that she was ‘totally on my own now’ and was about to be ‘exterminated’ in the UK due to a series of personal scandals.

The Palace couldn’t ‘behead’ her so ‘will discredit me – totally to obliteration’, she said in a nod to the executions of Henry VIII’s wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

Meanwhile, the latest release of documents, which contained three million pages, also included exchanges between Epstein and Mr Branson.

In one email, Mr Branson told Epstein to ‘bring his harem’ the next time they met.

The email exchange was from September 2013 after Epstein visited the Virgin tycoon’s private island.

In the messages, Sir Richard also offered advice on how Epstein could rehabilitate his image after he was convicted of producing a minor for prostitution in 2008.

In the email dated September 11, 2013, Sir Richard wrote: ‘Dear Jeffrey, it was really nice seeing you yesterday. The boys in watersports can’t stop speaking about it! Any time you’re in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!’

Earlier emails from Epstein’s office setting up the visit revealed that Epstein would be visiting with three male business associates and ‘two Russian girls’.

Sir Richard has vehemently denied wrongdoing and released a statement last night saying he and his late wife Joan cut off all contact with Epstein after learning of his ‘abhorrent’ crimes.

But in the 2013 email exchange, the entrepreneur seems to offer advice to Epstein to improve his image after he pleaded guilty to producing a minor for prostitution in 2008.

Sir Richard wrote that if Microsoft founder Bill Gates was willing to vouch for him that would help Epstein’s rehabilitation.

Last week, billionaire Gates was forced to issue a strenuous denial to claims Epstein made in the newly released documents that he caught a sexually transmitted disease from ‘Russian girls’ and had asked Epstein to procure antibiotics for him.

Sir Richard wrote to Epstein: ‘I think if Bill Gates was willing to say that you’ve been a brilliant advisor to him, that you slipped up many years ago by sleeping with a 17½-year-old woman and were punished for it, that you’ve more than learnt your lesson and have done nothing that’s against the law since and, yes, as a single man you seem to have a penchant for women. But there’s nothing wrong with that.’

In setting up the visit to Necker, Epstein’s assistant asked if he could bring Boris Nikolic, an associate of Bill Gates When Branson responds: ‘That’s fine. How many people? Could we have all names please?’

The assistant replies that Epstein will come with a number of other people and ‘the two Russian girl[s]’ – with both names redacted. It adds that they ‘don’t have UK visas’.

Following the document release, a statement for Sir Richard said that the ‘harem’ referred to three adult members of Epstein’s team.

Mr Branson said his contact with Epstein was ‘only a few occasions more than twelve years ago, and was limited to group or business settings, such as a charity tennis event’.

The statement added: ‘When Epstein offered a charity donation, the Bransons asked their team to carry out due diligence before accepting the donation, which uncovered serious allegations.

‘As a result of what the due diligence uncovered, Virgin Unite did not take the donation and Richard and Joan decided not to meet or speak with Epstein again.

‘Had they had the full picture and information, there would have been no contact whatsoever – Richard believes that Epstein’s actions were abhorrent and supports the right to justice for his many victims.’

Meanwhile, Bill Gates told the Daily Mail in a statement: ‘These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false.

‘The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.’

Sarah Ferguson has been contacted for further comment.