Fresh riddle over Fergie’s £4.3m home: Insiders suggest Duchess of York – who once said she was ‘continually on the brink of bankruptcy’ – had her Belgravia flat purchased for her by her daughters

•  Mystery over how Fergie afforded property has deepened with fresh revelation
•  Duchess of York, 63, cannot sell the home without the consent of her daughters
•  Land Registry documents show she bought the property without a mortgage

Given Sarah, Duchess of York’s well-documented financial mishaps, it was something of a surprise that she was able to splash out on a £4 million home in London.

Now the mystery over how she afforded the Belgravia property has deepened after it emerged she cannot sell it without written consent signed by her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Official Land Registry documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal the unusual ‘restriction’ was placed on the pretty mews terrace when Fergie, 63, bought it in June last year.

The deeds also reveal she paid £4.25 million outright without need of a mortgage.

Last night, a top legal source told the MoS that the restriction placed on the property suggests that her daughters may have stumped up the funds. 

The mystery over how Sarah, Duchess of York, 63, afforded her Belgravia home has deepened after it emerged she cannot sell it without written consent signed by her daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice (pictured)

The Duchess of York paid for the £4.25 million Belgravia home without need of a mortgage 

‘That could be one explanation,’ they said, adding: ‘But it also could mean that whoever purchased the property wants to make sure that her daughters ultimately benefit from it.

‘Usually a restriction like this one is needed to stop conmen taking advantage of vulnerable elderly relatives and selling their house from under them when they are in a care home, but I don’t think that applies in this case.’

A source close to the Duchess last night declined to discuss whether she had paid for the mews home herself, stating it was a ‘private matter’,

However, they alluded to Fergie’s recent publishing success, adding: ‘She has bought it very much as a nest egg for the girls so it does not surprise me at all that she has put that kind of provision in.’

Her multi-million pound purchase came despite her repeated complaints of financial difficulties over the years. 

The Duchess described herself as ‘continually on the verge of financial bankruptcy’ in a 2011 TV interview, after losing more than £3.2 million in the collapse of Hartmoor, her US ‘lifestyle and wellness’ company,

She also admitted to having ‘little understanding’ of money and there were reports she had run up as much as £4.2 million debts during her marriage to Prince Andrew. 

Most of her income comes from her books. Her first bodice-ripper crept onto the bestseller charts in 2021.

By coincidence, her bijou terrace pad is a short walk from Ghislaine Maxwell’s old home where Prince Andrew was pictured with his arm around the waist of the then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts, who claims she was trafficked to London to have sex with him in 2001.

A spokesman for Andrew previously said he had no involvement in the purchasing of Fergie’s property. 

She bought it a few months after he reached a multi-million pound settlement with Ms Roberts, now married under the name Giuffre, over allegations of sexual assault. 

He did not accept any liability and strongly denies the claims.

Source: Read Full Article