The Duchess of York – otherwise known as Fergie – was staying at Balmoral Castle in 1992 when pictures emerged in the tabloid press showing her sunbathing topless while John Bryan, an American financial manager, kissed her feet. Fergie and Prince Andrew had already privately announced plans to separate when the news broke. However, their marriage was not completely over and she was still very much part of the royal circle.

The scandal was one of the biggest within the Royal Family, and since then her relationship with the rest of the royals has been extremely difficult.

According to 2019 Channel 5 documentary “The Royal Family at War”, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne are said to be still angry with the Duchess for humiliating the family.

Royal correspondent Katie Nicholl said: “The Duke of Edinburgh never forgave Sarah for the embarrassment and humiliation that she had reaped.

“Sarah was never welcome at Balmoral again.

“She was never welcome at Christmas with the royals again.

“She was outcast and that was clearly very difficult for her.”

In a throwback interview included in the documentary, a journalist asked Sarah if being outcast by the royals was something she saw as a fault in herself.

The Duchess of York replied: “Oh I think so .

“I think I have made huge faults.

“Don’t we all make huge mistakes?”

However, Fergie added: “It has made me very much more thoughtful and trying to control my spontaneity a little bit so I don’t fall into awful great, big poo traps.

“The ramifications are too much for me to cope with.”

Even though her relationship with some members of the Royal Family are still sour, Fergie and Prince Andrew have stayed close since their divorce, with royal fans speculating about the two possibly getting back together after their recent appearance at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Queen is also said to be fond of her.

Royal author Ingrid Seward revealed in the documentary the Queen extended an “olive branch” to the Duchess in 2013.

She explained: “The Queen has always been extremely fond of Fergie.

“They have got on very, very well.

“So what the Queen used to do, she would invite Fergie up to Balmoral when Philip wasn’t there and then when Philip arrived, Fergie would leave so that their paths would never meet.”

Royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter also added: “Philip had made it very clear [he did not want to see Fergie], he is quite stubborn, we all know the Prince is quite set in his ways.

“The fact that the Queen was so diplomatic was really instrumental in making sure Fergie was still welcome but also recognising that as far as her husband was concerned, he didn’t want to be involved, [and] that was fine too.”

Philip and Fergie were pictured for the first time together in 26 years at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s wedding last October.

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