Signs Sarah Ferguson's Relationship With Her Daughters Is On The Rocks

It goes without saying that the royal family has no shortage of infighting these days. It seems, though, that there's yet another feud brewing. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been very publicly ousted from the royal family in the wake of the sexual abuse allegations against him. Interestingly, though, his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have stood by the former Prince Andrew through it all. It seems, however, that the pair of princesses may be distancing themselves from their mother.

When Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles, his ex-wife, the former Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, lost her title, too. Those same rules, however, did not apply to their daughters. While the former duke and duchess lost their titles, Beatrice and Eugenie are still princesses. Now, Ferguson has given up both her status and her home at Royal Lodge, which she shared with her ex-husband. Yet, she's hoping to hang onto her reputation. And, from the sound of it, her daughters aren't too keen on helping her cause.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his wife of ten years, Sarah Ferguson, called it quits in 1996, and the pair was notoriously close for decades after their divorce. These days, though, this may no longer be true. The former couple's association with infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has had a profound effect on both of their reputations and lives. Ferguson lived with Mountbatten-Windsor at Royal Lodge before they were both evicted from the property amidst their scandal. In January 2026, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told GB News, "It will be a very substantial change from the image of this idea that they were the world's most friendly divorced couple."

While Ferguson may be moving on from her friendship with her ex-husband, Fitzwilliams doesn't think she'll move on quite so easily from her fame. According to him, Ferguson will "almost certainly try some sort of comeback, but in what form and how," adding, "I can't see it working. Her charities have cast her adrift." He added, "What we don't know is what she will do next." 

Less than two months after this prediction, it seems clear how Ferguson expects to get back into the public's good graces. She wants help from her daughters. And they apparently aren't too keen on participating.

A source told Radar Online, "There is a real sense that Sarah [Ferguson] expects the girls to step in and fix things for her." Yet, if Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie attempt to help recover their mother's reputation, it may not work, and it could even cost them their own. "[Ferguson's] expectation is becoming incredibly difficult for them because they have spent years carefully building their own lives away from controversy," the source explained.

From the sound of it, the sisters are adamant about not getting involved with their mother's struggling standing in the public eye. Should the former duchess continue to push her daughters on the matter, she just might push them away. "... They may feel they have no choice but to create a much firmer distance... They... may now have to totally freeze their own mother out of their lives to avoid being tarred with her toxic brush in royal circles," the source explained. Ultimately, Beatrice and Eugenie made it out of the scandal their parents created scot-free, and they seemingly aren't willing to risk that to help their mother return to her old life.

A source told Radar Online that Sarah Ferguson's behavior "looks like a desperate strategy built on the belief that the girls can somehow repair the damage to her reputation." And, it isn't just Ferguson's association with her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, that has her reputation floundering.

Ferguson herself had a seemingly close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. "Her lavish spending, financial recklessness, and lack of discretion are well documented and have led to her being labeled 'greedy' and an 'appalling judge of character' for maintaining relationships with [Epstein and others]," broadcaster Helena Chard told Fox News. This, paired with her apparent desperation to return to her former status, isn't going over well. "Among those who move within those high-society circles, there is a palpable exhaustion about the situation. Each new controversy erodes what little patience remained for Sarah," another source shared with Radar Online.

Is a reputation like this even fixable? It's certainly not a sure thing. And, either way, it isn't Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie's responsibility to help Ferguson find out. A palace insider told Radar Online that the sisters "have effectively found themselves managing the reputational consequences of events they had no role in creating." So, it would be no surprise if, soon enough, Beatrice and Eugenie feel obligated to tell their mom, once and for all, that they're staying out of their parents' mess. And, thus, another royal family feud begins.