The Duchess of York has said her ex-husband Prince Andrew is a ‘good and kind man’, following his recent settlement of sexual assault allegations.

Sarah Ferguson denied living full time with the Duke of York at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, where she spends time with him and their two daughters.

She said she spends a lot of her time abroad doing philanthropic work – but said she stood by Prince Andrew despite the recent hit to his reputation.

In an interview with Times Radio, she said: ‘”It’s a place where we are a united front with the girls. It’s their home.’

She said she believed people should ‘clean your side of the street’ and act with integrity then once you’ve done that, then if anyone else has a problem it is their problem.

‘I will stand very firmly by Andrew who is a very good and kind man,’ she said.

Prince Andrew, who has always denied allegations of sex assault, settled a civil case brought by Virginia Guiffre who claims she was made to have sex with him three times when she was 17, and the victim of a trafficking ring orchestrated by billionaire paedophile Jeffry Epstein.

Asked if she would marry him again if she could go back and do things differently, Ms Ferguson said ‘oh yes’.

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‘It was an exceptional day, the 23rd of July 1986. I think my life is an amazing life. I think I’ve been very lucky. And I am now just beginning my life again. And I think it’s pretty cool to be able to say that.’

She also described her relationship with her daughters as ‘the tripod’ who ‘stay firm to speaking their truth’.

In the interview with Mariella Frostrup, she said she could not speak about Prince Andrew’s case for legal reasons but said she and her daughters had coped with difficult times by being present and speaking a lot to each other.

‘I can say that I have done probably one of the greatest things of my life, being a mother, and a very good mother,’ she said. ‘And the reason why is because I was abandoned by my mother at the age of 11.

‘And every time I look at my girls, I realise what the secret to good mothering is. Show up. That’s it. Show up and listen. You turn the telephone off, shut the door, turn the television off, and you say, “are you okay? Is it me? Have I annoyed you? What’s gone on?”

‘You know, and you really take away the fear factor because you’re so present with them. And I believe that’s the secret.’

She said both Beatrice and Eugenie had ‘great’ and ‘so good looking’ husbands and she was pleased to see them doing well.

As the interview turned to politics, she said she had to remain ‘deeply apolitical, because otherwise it gets me into big trouble’.

Asked about the government’s plan to sent asylum seekers to Rwanda, she said ‘Rwandan people are so welcoming, and full of hospitality’.

But she said refugees should be spoken to and involved in the conversation.

‘So I feel really strongly my answer has to be: “Are you sure everybody that you have listened to the needs of the person that is displaced?”‘

The interview was broadcast on Times Radio at 2pm today.

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