Ex-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson “Seemed to Get on Better” After Split—Here’s Where Their “Strange” Relationship Stands Now

Rachel BurchfieldThu, July 23, 2026 at 12:21 PM UTC

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Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on September 16, 2025.Credit: GettyThe Gist -

On July 23, 1986—40 years ago today—the former Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson in a royal wedding at Westminster Abbey.

They ultimately separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996, and royal biographer Ingrid Seward said the two “seemed to get on better” after they split up.

After scandal embroiled them both surrounding their connection to Jeffrey Epstein, their relationship is “now clearly fractured,” fellow royal biographer Andrew Lownie said.

Forty years ago today, on July 23, 1986, Prince Andrew (the man now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) married Sarah Ferguson. After welcoming two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and separating in 1992, the former Duke and Duchess of York finalized their divorce in 1996—a decade after it all began.

“They seemed to get on better after they separated, perhaps because there was no obligation,” royal biographer Ingrid Seward told Hello!. “It was a strange kind of relationship. When he phoned, she used to stand up and say, ‘Yes, husband!’ But I don’t think it was romantic.”

Sarah Ferguson and former Prince Andrew at their 1986 royal wedding.Credit: Getty Images

Seward, who is also editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, added, “I don’t know if Andrew wanted her back, but I think he never stopped loving her. There were photographs of her all over the house. He saw her as the mother of his children and he would always protect her, because he is very loyal to the people he cares about.”

Fellow royal biographer Andrew Lownie told Hello! that “There were moments when he thought it would be nice to get back together for the sake of the children, but she didn’t want to. I think the romantic relationship fizzled out early on, but he did want to have this so-called happy family relationship. He thought it would be good for their daughters.”

Seward pointed to Sarah being “bored rigid” and lonely in her marriage, which “drove her into the arms of other men.”

“He embarrassed her with the way he spoke to people, and I think she lost respect for him,” she added. “She is very charming and would never speak down to someone she considered her inferior, but Andrew did, and she hated that. He was very unsophisticated.”

Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson at the christening of Princess Eugenie at Sandringham in 1990.Credit: Getty Images

After their divorce, Andrew and Sarah ended up living together again—though not romantically. They cohabitated in Andrew’s former 30-room mansion, Royal Lodge, before both moved out of the property for good earlier this year. Not long after, Andrew was arrested on February 19—his 66th birthday—at his new home on the Sandringham estate. He was released later that day and hasn’t been charged with a crime, though allegations of misconduct in public office are still being investigated.

Andrew’s arrest followed the former couple’s last public appearance together in September 2025 at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral; the next month, both Andrew and Sarah gave up their prestigious Duke and Duchess of York titles, which they’d received as a gift from Queen Elizabeth on their 1986 wedding day.

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By the end of the month, King Charles stripped Andrew of all of his royal titles and privileges, rendering him a commoner. Though both Andrew and Sarah attended the December christening of Beatrice’s daughter Athena, it was a private event, so they weren’t photographed together. Following their exile from Royal Lodge, Andrew went to Sandringham, while Sarah remained almost totally under-the-radar and largely away from the United Kingdom.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson on September 16, 2025.Credit: Getty

Prior to the ongoing scandal surrounding their involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, Sarah described her relationship with Andrew as “the happiest divorced couple in the world.” But, Lownie said, that notion “was always a bit of a myth.”

“Sarah had her own set of apartments at the opposite end of the house, and although they did meet and speak on the phone, I don’t think there was much contact,” he continued. “There was always this rather cynical idea that he was her calling card for business and seeing members of the royal family.”

“They were kind of joined together—them against the world—and that’s now clearly fractured,” Lownie said. “I think she feels that he’s toxic and that he’s going to destroy her branding opportunities, so it’s time to go off on her own.”

After Andrew was allegedly threatened by a man wearing a balaclava back in May, “I understand that she was concerned and found it frightening, and that she was glad she was safe and out of the country, but her concern doesn’t seem to be about him—rather, it’s about the position related to her,” royal biographer Robert Jobson told Hello!.

Sarah Ferguson at Royal Ascot in 2024.Credit: Getty Images

While Lownie said he “can’t see any future in that relationship now,” Seward thinks “they are still talking to each other, because he’s carried her through so much.”

“They have so much in common—they both like money, they’re both irresponsible, and they both live in a slight fantasy world of their own making,” she said. “Perhaps they’re destined to always be together. Apart, but together.”

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