Meghan Markle Has Been Dubbed The Next Sarah Ferguson. Here's Why

The Duchess of Sussex and the former Duchess of York have more in common than meets the eye. Although they hail from different generations, Meghan Markle and Sarah Ferguson are strikingly similar. Both women married second sons from the British royal family — Meghan tied the knot with Prince Harry in 2018 and Sarah walked down the aisle with Prince Andrew in 1986. Both women experienced extreme levels of harassment from the British tabloid press, and both ultimately left their positions as working royals.

Perhaps, then, it's unsurprising that royal commentators have begun to draw an increasing number of parallels between Meghan and Sarah. Even following their royal exits, both women took similar paths. Without the financial comfort of the crown's coffers, the duchess and the ex-duchess were both forced to search for new types of income. The two women put themselves out there, signing expensive deals with important media companies. They gave decidedly un-royal interviews with Oprah Winfrey and created a number of scandals in the process. While there may not be a lot of love lost between these women and the British royal family, it's clear that royal life changed Meghan Markle and Fergie's lives forever. 

When they first married into the British royal family, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, both received Her Royal Highness (HRH) titles. However, following their respective royal fallouts, both women lost their HRH designation — albeit in different ways. Sarah formally lost hers in 1996 following her divorce from Prince Andrew. Meghan, meanwhile, made an informal agreement to stop using the title after stepping away from royal life in 2020. Regardless, both women were instructed to stop referring to themselves as HRH, and both went on to do so anyway.

Writing in his book, "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York," royal expert Andrew Lownie revealed that "Sarah's continued use of HRH caused controversy as she claimed it had not been formally withdrawn." The then-duchess' psychic, Madame Vasso, explained, "Whenever we spoke, [Sarah] had always stressed how important being an HRH was to her, not least because she felt it gave her the respect she believed was her due as a member of the royal family." Meghan also seemed rather attached to her HRH titles, despite all her issues with royal life. A minor scandal even took place in 2025 after the duchess' friend, Jamie Kern Lima, shared a photograph of one of Meghan's personal notes on her podcast, "The Jamie Kern Lima Show." The source of the controversy?  Meghan's signature: "HRH The Duchess of Sussex."

Titles or not, exiting the British royal family is no easy affair. Many members of this prestigious institution grow accustomed to a certain lifestyle during their tenure as working royals, and losing the perks of palace living can be difficult to cope with. Such were the cases of Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle. 

During her years as Prince Andrew's wife, Sarah enjoyed lavish meals and huge dinner parties. In his book, "The Royal Insider: My Life with The Queen, The King and Princess Diana," former palace staffer, Paul Burrell, said after Fergie joined the family, "The kitchen staff were run off their feet. Even the queen didn't entertain so extravagantly." When Sarah and Andrew got a divorce, the then-Duchess of York didn't know how to maintain her lifestyle. Sarah managed to accumulate a debt of £4.2 million ($5.6 million) with the royal bankers Coutts & Co. These financial troubles would haunt Sarah for years, even forcing her to move back in with her ex-husband. 

Although Meghan has avoided such serious financial troubles, things have not been easy for the Duchess of Sussex. During her time as a working royal, Meghan became accustomed to top-notch security — a service that she and Prince Harry now have to pay themselves. The couple have to work constantly to find the $2 million and $3 million that Forbes estimates they spend on annual security costs.

Because leaving the royal family poses certain financial difficulties, Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle both had to come up with ways to make money. Interestingly, the two women decided that the U.S. media world offered some of the best opportunities. While Sarah went to New York City to pursue a career in the advertisement world, Meghan went to California where she partnered up with companies like Spotify and Netflix.

Despite the size of Sarah's debts, her attempts to make money were actually quite successful. In 1997, the former Duchess of York was paid $500,000 to appear in commercials for Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice. She also became a brand ambassador for Weight Watchers, earning her a whopping $1.7 million.

Sarah's earnings, though, were small potatoes compared to what Meghan stood to gain in her own projects. Alongside her husband, Prince Harry, Meghan signed a Netflix deal that was rumored to be worth approximately $100 million at the beginning stages. In 2025, however, it was reported that Harry and Meghan's payout was cut significantly, although concrete numbers were not initially revealed. The couple also arranged a $20 million Spotify deal that was cancelled after just one season of Meghan's "Archetypes" podcast. These moments show how tricky it is for royals to make a living beyond the palace walls.

Members of the British royal family are subject to a set of intense royal rules that dictate their lives, but the relationship between former royals and protocol is somewhat complicated. Both Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle had to confront this reality following their royal exits. Neither woman necessarily wanted to spend the rest of their lives following, say, the strict royal rules surrounding how to go to the bathroom. However, when it came to the issue of television appearances, Sarah and Meghan seemed pretty keen on departing from the royal tradition of avoiding celebrity.

This was evident for Sarah in 1998 when she made an appearance on the hit TV show "Friends." At the time, it was the coolest show on air, and the then-duchess probably earned some popularity points for her cameo. That being said, the palace probably wasn't thrilled with her brush with celebrity. As royal historian Dr. Anna Whitelock explained in the documentary, "Fergie & Andrew: Duke and Duchess of Disaster," "This was not becoming of a former royal princess to appear on an American sitcom."

In 2025, upon launching her Netflix cooking and crafts show, "With Love, Meghan," the Duchess of Sussex would find that the British public was not necessarily supportive of her on-screen endeavor. Indeed, "With Love, Meghan" rubbed royal watchers the wrong way. The show accentuated the idea that Meghan is a "Hollywood princess," as royal author Andrew Morton called her.

Beyond the issues of following royal protocol, Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle both experienced other sorts of challenges in their post-palace projects. Sarah and Meghan both tried to work on children's fiction at one point or another, and both were accused of plagiarizing children's authors. 

For Sarah, the accusations came after her two 1989 books, "Budgie: The Little Helicopter" and "Budgie at Bendick's Point," were revealed to be strikingly similar to Arthur W. Baldwin's 1964 book, "Hector the Helicopter." The parallels between the pieces were so strong that Baldwin's publishers at Random House threatened to sue Sarah. In the end, the U.S. publication of Sarah's book was canceled due to the controversy.

Decades later, Meghan experienced a similar incident after announcing an animated Netflix series titled "Pearl." The show's premise would be to follow a young girl as she met some of history's most influential women. The project, however, seemed quite similar to a children's book called, "Pearl Power." The author, Mel Elliot, told the Daily Mail, "Meghan is a feminist who sticks up for other women, so I was disappointed and confused to see how similar Netflix's proposed show 'Pearl' was to my own 'Pearl Power' who had been created seven years earlier." In the end, audiences didn't have the chance to compare the two works, and in 2022, Netflix canceled Meghan's project due to budget reasons.

When it comes to the press, members of the royal family are expected to "never complain, never explain." But for Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle this rules has seemed impossible. Over the years, both women have done their fair share of press appearances and interviews — opening up about the pressures of sudden fame and issues surrounding mental health. Fascinatingly, though, Meghan and Fergie both made the choice to appear on-screen with interviewing sensation, Oprah Winfrey.

In 2011, Sarah signed a $300,000 deal with Oprah to launch a six-part interview series called "Finding Sarah." The idea was to help the public understand who the then-Duchess of York was outside of her royal identity. Throughout six wild episodes, Sarah went on-camera to undergo a series of spiritual processes. She spent time with an Arizonan horse whisperer, submitted herself to hypnotism, and embarked on a journey through the Canadian Arctic. The whole thing was considered un-royal and did not necessarily reflect well on the monarchy.

Exactly one decade later, Meghan appeared alongside her husband, Prince Harry, in a shocking one-time interview with Oprah. The conversation, which drew 17.1 million viewers, made serious accusations against the British royal family — including allegations of racism toward Prince Archie. The interview shed light on Harry and Meghan's feelings toward the royal institution and foreshadowed their ultimate exit from palace life.

It's no secret that there are perks to being a royal. Grand banquets, expensive jewelry, and exciting international tours are all part of royal life. But the understanding within the royal family is that enjoying these perks should always come second to actually performing royal duties. Sadly, during their respective tenures as working royals, both Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle were accused of preferring the royal treatment to anything else. 

Sarah Ferguson's parents worried their daughter was overly interested in the trappings of royalty. As Andrew Lownie explained in his book, "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York," "Even Sarah's own family were not sure about the relationship [with Prince Andrew] ... her father stated: 'She's either in love with Andrew or in love with the royal family, and I think it's the latter.'"

Some reports indicate that Meghan may have had similar issues with the royal system. According to former palace butler, Grant Harrold, in an interview with Page Six, Meghan didn't understand official engagements took precedence over personal social engagements. "She would rather have lunch with her friends, thinking that was fine and it wasn't," Harrold claimed. He went on to opine, "She assumed that after watching all the Disney princesses that she thought it was going to be like that. When you join the royal family, you are given rules and protocols to follow."

Of all the perks of being a royal, one of the most significant is living in a royal residence. High-ranking members of Britain's most famous family are often offered the opportunity to live in a certain cottage, house, or palace apartment for a long stretch of time. Because these properties are usually owned by the crown or a national trust, royals are sometimes given long-term leases that create a sense of stability.

But while a royal may feel safe at their official residence, nothing is permanent. Meghan Markle learned this lesson the hard way. In 2018, Queen Elizabeth II gave the duchess and Prince Harry a residence at Frogmore Cottage as a wedding present. However, in light of the couple's decision to quit royal life, King Charles III asked them to vacate the premises in 2023. The decision reportedly left the couple in shock, as they had wanted to keep the property indefinitely.

In 2025, Sarah Ferguson has yet to be evicted from Royal Lodge — the residence she has shared with Prince Andrew since 2008. However, rumor has it that Charles wants Andrew and Fergie out of royal property. "The king feels deeply that Royal Lodge cannot remain a sanctuary for the Duke and Duchess of York. After everything that has come out, he wants them out," an insider told RadarOnline. Removing the former Yorks from their residence might not be easy, though, as Andrew holds a decades-long lease on the property.

King Charles III may have been tough on Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle, but there's another high-ranking royal who would like to see the duo on the out — allegedly. Prince William is said to be tired of Sarah and Meghan's scandals. One source even told the National Examiner of William, "It's pretty much accepted within the royal household that once he does take the throne, Harry and Meghan will immediately get their titles yanked." Apparently, the heir disagrees with his father about how to approach the Sussex situation — considering the king's "easy-handed" approach.

Interestingly, William's approach to Sarah and Prince Andrew is understood to be quite similar. Speaking to Fox News Digital, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams revealed, "The king does have empathy as Andrew is his brother, but William sees the couple as a threat to the monarchy." Other specialists agree that Sarah Ferguson's biggest scandals have landed her in hot water with the future monarch. In his book, "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York," Andrew Lownie reported that the Prince of Wales was unhappy with the ex-duke and duchess. An insider apparently told Lownie, "[William] also loathes Sarah, Andrew's ex-wife, and can't wait for the day when his father throws them both out." Even Princess Catherine was reportedly advised to cut ties with the former duchess.