Andrew Windsor ‘surprised’ visitor with merciless two-word slur for ‘scared’ Fergie at lunch

A royal author has claimed that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s relationship with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has been far from rosy over the years

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A royal biographer has suggested that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson’s relationship has been anything but harmonious for years.

The writer, Tina Brown, the former editor of Vanity Fair, claimed in her bestselling book ‘The Palace Papers’ that Andrew once hurled a two-word slur about Fergie’s looks at his former wife while she was dining with an unnamed media executive.

It presents a scenario that’s worlds apart from how the divorced pair once portrayed themselves as the “happiest divorced couple in the world”. Parting ways in the mid-1990s amid scandalous tales of adultery, the duo stayed tight for decades.

Indeed, until recently they cohabited at Andrew’s opulent residence, Royal Lodge, just a short distance from Windsor Castle.

Yet Brown maintains that Andrew once branded Fergie a “fat cow”, leaving the media executive completely “stunned” and with the sense that Sarah is genuinely intimidated by her former husband.

The episode is believed to have occurred in 2015, at Royal Lodge itself – the 30-room property that Andrew was unceremoniously booted from earlier this year.

Andrew is alleged to have entered the room while Sarah and the American executive were having lunch and said, “What are you doing with this fat cow?” seemingly referring to his ex-wife.

Sarah has been open about her struggles with weight over the years, and found public criticism of her appearance tough to handle.

As she once told the Irish Independent: “It took courage to go out in public in all the years I have been overweight. Every time there was a ‘Duchess of Pork’ or ‘Fat Frumpy Fergie’ headline, they didn’t have any idea they were reaching to the depths of my soul.”

The Mirror reports that the executive who witnessed an interaction between the ex-spouses was left “stunned at his level of sadism,” and said: “I thought, ‘What an a–hole.’ She has to sing for her supper. She’s afraid of him.”

Brown suggests this is indicative of the “symbiotic” relationship Andrew and Fergie have maintained for many years, where each had something to gain from the other.

Alluding to Sarah’s recurring financial woes which the Royal Family are rumoured to have assisted her with, Brown wrote: “Whatever the undertow of their curious arrangement, the deal seems to be that he bails her out when she’s in trouble. And she backs him up when he’s assailed by scandal. It is the symbiosis of sheer survival.”

On more than one occasion, Fergie has defended Andrew amidst the controversy surrounding allegations of sexual assault made against him by the late Virginia Giuffre, a victim of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has consistently and vehemently denied the accusations.

In 2021, Sarah insisted that while her former husband faced mounting controversy he is a “kind, great man…I feel very strongly that in this day and age that we must stand by our hearts, what we think is right with integrity and honour and loyalty.”

Epstein, who maintained friendships with both Andrew and Sarah, has left a lasting stain on the former couple and the Royal Family as a whole.

Andrew was arrested on his 66th birthday in February on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, following the emergence of emails to the deceased paedophile that revealed him sharing classified documents from his period as UK Trade Envoy.

The Epstein Files – countless documents encompassing correspondence, banking and telephone records, plus flight logs – published by the US House Oversight Committee demonstrated that both Andrew and Sarah had continued communicating with Epstein much longer than they had previously acknowledged.

In Andrew Lownie’s explosive book, ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’ numerous claims surfaced about Andrew frequently engaging in vulgar practical jokes and juvenile taunts – especially targeting staff members.

Barking “Do it!” at staff was said to be somewhat of a “catchphrase of sorts” for Andrew, according to one of the Queen Mother’s former equerries, Colin Burgess.

He said: “He would say things such as: ‘I want this done and I want it done now,’ or ‘Have that done by such and such a time.’ I remember him always saying ‘Do it!’ which was his catchphrase of sorts.”

This was in stark contrast to the approach King Charles or the Queen Mother took with their employees, treating them as “human beings”, the former equerry noted.

Lownie’s book also claims that on one occasion he called a staff member a “f***ing imbecile” for not using the full title for the Queen Mother and ordered them to “get out”.

The book further suggests that Andrew had a penchant for childish pranks, often leaving the recipient feeling humiliated.

The ex-Duke would reportedly trick party guests into closing their eyes and extending their hands, before instructing them to clap – unaware that they were holding an open tube of mustard, resulting in the condiment splattering over their faces.

He is also accused of pushing a dinner guest’s face into their food and unzipping a woman’s dress entirely during a high-society event.

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