‘Sarah Ferguson demanded I name her by one title earlier than chasing me in stockings’
Australian TV presenter Michael Usher recalled his chaotic 2011 interview with Sarah Ferguson, which resurfaced after troubling emails between Sarah Ferguson and Jeffrey Epstein emerged
Sarah Ferguson walked out of the interview
Sarah Ferguson is reportedly living abroad, weighing her options after becoming increasingly entangled in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. In September, several charities severed ties with the former Duchess of York following revelations she emailed the convicted paedophile mere weeks after vowing to cut contact. However, recent days have seen the emergence of further damning emails.
Released by the US Department of Justice, these emails show Sarah — who vacated Royal Lodge at King Charles’ behest — asking Epstein to “marry” her, offering to give his clients a tour of Buckingham Palace, and even introducing her daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, to the disgraced financier.
One individual with behind-the-scenes experience of Sarah’s mannerisms is veteran Australian TV presenter Michael Usher. He had a disastrous 2011 interview with Sarah for 60 Minutes Australia — the same year she sent the Epstein email — which ended with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ex-wife storming off.
Last year, Michael shared his insights on Nova 96.9’s Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie, recalling his awkward encounters with the ex-Duchess. He revealed: “I had to call her Duchess. She wouldn’t let me call her Sarah, lots and lots of airs and graces.
“But she was fine, and she was relatively sweet. But then there was just this moment…she turned and getting her back into the chair, was crazy. She came back and she continued the interview, and then it was like a different personality again.”
During the awkward chat about her memoir Finding Sarah: A Duchess’s Journey to Find Herself, Sarah warned him: “Don’t try and trick me now because I am not going to play this game. Delete that bit.”
Tensions flared when Michael asked Sarah to watch undercover footage of her offering to sell access to her ex-partner Andrew for hefty sums.
After the gruelling interview finally wrapped up, Michael and his crew stepped outside, only for Sarah to apparently chase after him.
Recalling the peculiar incident, Michael, who dubbed the encounter a “hot mess”, recalled: “We walked outside, and the Duchess came running up behind me. She chucked her heels off and she’s in her stockings on the lawn. Going ‘Michael, how was that?’
“By that stage, I just said, ‘Sarah, if I were you, I’d be asking to go back into the room and do that interview all over again, because I don’t know what happened.’
“Then she goes, ‘Oh, well, anyway, who wants to sign some books? I’ll sign your book for you. And now, what are your kids names?’ And off she went from there.”
Michael later described the interview as a “train wreck”, adding: “She walked out on me three or four times. It was absolutely horrendous.”
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