Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson, has kept a low profile in the wake of his arrest. Neither she nor the couple’s two daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, have made a public statement since the police detained the former prince on Thursday.
The British police have not released details on the specifics of the investigation into Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, beyond saying he was detained on suspicions of misconduct in public office. Previous reports indicate that he may have improperly shared confidential government documents with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while he served as a trade envoy for the British government from 2001 to 2011.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor was released from police custody after 7 p.m. local time, but he remained under investigation.
Ms. Ferguson, a former Duchess of York, divorced Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor in 1996. She too appeared to have a close relationship with Mr. Epstein, according to new documents released by the U.S. Justice Department earlier this year.
In one email exchange in 2010, Ms. Ferguson called Mr. Epstein a “legend,” and added, “Just marry me.” In another exchange, Mr. Epstein suggested Ms. Ferguson release a statement asserting that he was “not a pedo.” (There is no evidence she did so.)
Ms. Ferguson has not responded publicly since those documents were released. She has kept a low profile since the former prince was stripped of his royal title in October and then moved out of Royal Lodge, a crown property, where he had lived. She ceased to be a duchess when Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor lost the use of his Duke of York title. Palace officials said Ms. Ferguson would no longer receive support from the family.
The couple’s daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, maintain their titles. Both have focused on charity work and retained their places in the line of succession — ninth and 12th — because they are the daughters of the son of a sovereign, in line with King George V’s Letters Patent of 1917.
Pranav Baskar is an international reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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