I’m delighted to share a special episode, the first of a series that will do a deep dive into * Entitled* and also look at further material that didn’t make it into the book. Episode one looks into the childhoods and early adulthood of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson and how the circumstances of their upbringing had a profound effect on their character as they grew up.
We kick off with the extraordinary coincidence of the fact that Prince Philip and Susan Barrantes were having an affair around the time of Andrew’s birth. It was something that Sarah Ferguson was quite proud of and would often be one of the first things she would tell her boyfriends. Rather ironically, given Prince Philip’s contempt for his daughter-in-law, he and Susan remained close, and the Duke of Edinburgh was said to be with Susan on the night of the Windsor fire in 1992.
I’m currently researching my book on Prince Philip, and I discussed too the existence of a Foreign Office file regarding Argentina and a visit the Duke made there which, as is their habit, they are trying to keep closed. It could perhaps be relevant, as Argentina is where Susan lived after she left Ronald Ferguson and married polo player Hector Barrantes.
We discussed Sarah’s upbringing and the effect of her mother’s departure, but also her ever-changing narrative when it comes to her relationship with Susan and the effect that growing up in a broken home had on her. It is a relationship that Ferguson presents differently in her two autobiographies, and her recollections may vary from her siblings’ remembrances.
We also looked at the effect of Andrew’s cosseted and spoilt upbringing and how, for a time before the birth of Edward, he was almost brought up as an only child, given the age difference between Charles, Anne and him. He learnt early on that rules didn’t apply to him, and the bombastic, brash and arrogant manner for which he was to become infamous has its roots in his childhood.
The episode also covers Andrew and Fergie in their early adulthood. We talked about Andrew’s experiences at Gordonstoun, where he was both something of a loner and a bit of a show-off, and where he struggled to make friends. It was at school that Andrew first became enamoured of the super-rich, and he was impressed when some pupils, such as those from the Niarchos family, would arrive for term in their helicopters.
We cover too Andrew’s stint in the Navy, and I discussed the conflicting accounts about his time there and what I have heard since publishing the book. While Andrew’s time as a naval officer, especially in the Falklands, was perhaps one of the most successful chapters of his royal career, the line between royal and officer was often blurred, and he was known to pretend he had a royal commitment when in fact he was off to play golf. Indeed, since the book came out, I have also spoken to his former colleagues, who said that in fact Andrew was given an easy run in the Navy.
Finally, we discussed Sarah Ferguson’s early days working for a PR firm and her early relationships, especially with Paddy McNally, that would prefigure the kind of men she has been attracted to ever since. That is to say, characters with plenty of money but rather less in the way of decency or respect for women. McNally treated Sarah appallingly, and it was only when he made it clear he had no intention of marrying her that she would go on to become instead the Duchess of York.
That said, she would use this to her advantage and, playing on his guilt at his treatment of her, be the recipient of his generosity right up until his death this year and even after, if reports that she was included in his will are to be believed.
The episode provides a number of examples of how both Fergie and Andrew had qualities that could have made them very successful royals but that, instead, every time they found themselves at a crossroads in their lives, they invariably took a wrong turn.
Next week I’ll be looking at their courtship, marriage and the astonishing speed with which the relationship broke down, with Andrew allegedly sleeping with twenty women before their first anniversary and Ferguson soon following suit with her own succession of lovers, such as John Bryan and Steve Wyatt.
You can get the number one bestseller ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’ here: https://link.amazon/B0gtgDiKZ
