by The Laird o’Thistle
June 18 2010

Several years ago a dear friend gave me a wonderful gift. It was a large Wedgewood vase in the “Sarah’s Garden” pattern, signed by the Duchess of York who was promoting the pattern at the time. It’s been the “crown” of my own royal collection ever since, the only piece I have that has been handled and personally signed by someone who was once an HRH. But I have to admit that of late I’ve been wondering….

Up until this last month, I’d always managed to make excuses for Sarah Ferguson’s doings and held out the slim hope that eventually she might be allowed to reunite with the man who still apparently loves her. (Not only did I like her earthy spirit, I also fall quite easily for redheads.) Even the notorious toe-sucking interlude that led to her divorce was somewhat comprehensible of a lonely woman who hardly ever saw her husband while he was off serving in the Navy. And I can also somewhat sympathize with her current economic crisis. But even if she was drunk, taking money in return for access to Prince Andrew really must banish her forever beyond the public pale… mustn’t it?

The Duchess of York has often been rather inaccurately portrayed as “common” (in the worst way), but she actually has quite an aristocratic pedigree through both of her grandmothers. Her paternal grandmother, the late Marian, Lady Elmhirst (d. 1996), was a daughter of a younger brother of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch, and thus a first cousin of the late Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Lady Elmhirst was also descended from the Hamilton family, Dukes of Abercorn, who were ancestors of Princess Diana’s paternal grandmother. Like Diana, Sarah traces more than one line of descent back to Charles II, and has other ties back into the old Royal Stewart lineage preceding Mary Queen of Scots.

Through her maternal grandmother, Sarah descends from the Irish Viscounts Powerscourt, whose beautiful historic country house near Dublin was destroyed by fire in 1974. On this side of the family, there are also lines of descent from Charles II, and at least one line going back to Elizabeth I’s Boleyn cousins. (Albeit, none of the various Charles II lines go back to “poor Nellie” Gwynne, which might have explained a few things about our Sarah!)

The Duchess of York reminds me in ways of the ambitious, and simultaneously rather bawdy women of the Restoration Court. Like her ancestresses, Lucy Walter, Barbara Villiers, and Louise de Kerouille, all mistresses of Charles II, the Duchess has lived a life among the fast set and has worked hard to find and make her way in a hostile world. And, she’s rarely done it in demure or conventional ways.

In ages past, women of Ms. Ferguson’s ilk might long since have been executed for adultery (and possibly treason), locked up in the Tower of London, or some nunnery, or otherwise been done in or disappeared. Or, she might simply have been cast aside, married off (if she was lucky) to some gentleman or minor noble happy to accommodate her.

Thankfully we do live in a somewhat more enlightened time. In many ways, the Duchess has made a success over the years in a variety of undertakings, though of late the going has gotten rocky. By all reports Prince Andrew, to his credit, if not his wisdom, still seems inclined to continue to help Fergie out and not abandon her. There is some justice in that, in that it does seem that an inadequate divorce settlement may have been an ongoing contributing factor in the Duchess’ financial woes. The problem, nonetheless, is that there doesn’t seem to be any way to ensure that Fergie won’t put her foot in it all over again, somewhere down the road.

What remains striking in this situation is that all these years on, neither Prince Andrew nor Sarah Ferguson has moved into a new marriage, or an ongoing life-partnership, or even a long-term “significant other.” In that sense, it almost seems like their divorce has never yet actually been finalized. They both seem rather stuck, traumatized by past events, and enmeshed with one another.

There are fascinating options dating back to the old Hanoverian Dukes for what Andrew and Sarah could pursue. They could simply choose the modern equivalent of a de facto “morganatic” union, and choose to openly live together as husband and officially unequal wife. (It’s not worked out badly for Charles and Camilla.) Or, she could openly become his live-in mistress/lover/partner, and continue to be officially non-existent, but perhaps more settled and at peace. Or, they could finally finish their emotional divorce and move on with their lives. My sincere hope is that she and her ex will find a way to move out of their past and into the future, together or apart. I don’t wish the silly woman any ill, after all. I just want her to stop embarrassing her former in-laws.

Meanwhile, I am keeping my beloved vase, and not even turning Sarah’s signature to the wall. It looks very good with large bouquets of lilacs or other branchy blooms. It has a chip in it now, though not a disfiguring one. It gives it some character and, as the friend who gave it to me says, shows loving use. As for Sarah, like Charles II my hope is that they won’t let “poor Nellie” starve.

Yours aye,
Ken Cuthbertson