Prince Andrew And Sarah Ferguson's Rare PDA Moments Caught On Camera

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Former Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's marriage lasted just 10 years from 1986 to 1996 — during which both members of the couple famously cheated on each other. While Andrew took advantage of his royal status to make advances on women around the globe, Ferguson enjoyed full-blown romances with some of the richest men in America. Steve Wyatt, who hailed from a family of oil tycoons, left Fergie so unabashedly in love that she lost any sort of romantic feeling for Andrew. A second Texan, John Bryan, also courted the former duchess, but ended her royal career for good when he was photographed sucking her toes. Andrew and Ferguson were so spectacularly unfaithful to each other that one has to wonder whether their marriage was ever real at all.

That said, a closer look at then-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's public displays of affection show that their relationship was more complicated than that. On one hand, the pair seemed to enjoy a certain degree of intimacy. But, on the other hand, they developed a pattern of using their physical relationship to break royal rules. Ultimately, the rare instances of Andrew and Ferguson's P.D.A. tell the story of the couple's unchecked desires, disdain for protocol, and lack of reverence for the monarchy.

On March 17, 1986, the palace announced the engagement of Sarah Ferguson to then-Prince Andrew. Wearing what appeared to be shades of mourning, the couple told the press that they were looking forward to making their relationship official. In what seemed to be a declaration of undying love, Ferguson called Andrew, "my perfect man and soulmate," per The Sunday Times. The two sealed their engagement with a public kiss that seemed to prove their romance to the world.

That said, things between Andrew and Ferguson were not so cut and dry. Footage of the engagement announcement, which later appeared on "20/20," also showed Andrew telling reporters that his bride-to-be could barely believe that he'd popped the question. "She said, 'If you wake up tomorrow morning, you can tell me it's a huge joke,'" the former prince not-so-charmingly shared.

Ferguson was not the only one who could barely believe the engagement. Even in the 1980s, Andrew had a reputation for womanizing. His hobby was famously photographing ladies in various states of dress. His previous girlfriend, Koo Stark, was an actor who had appeared in sexual scenes that were shocking by the standards of the time. Because of this, the press did not initially believe that Andrew and Ferguson were together for real. It took a full-blown engagement — and a very public smooch — to sell the idea that Andrew was ready to settle down.

If Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson's engagement originally seemed difficult to believe, the couple had no trouble selling their love story to the public. On April 21, 1986, the couple appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony to celebrate the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II's 60th birthday. Although the spotlight was really supposed to shine on the queen on this grand occasion, Andrew and Ferguson had no trouble stepping to front stage. Rather than sinking into the background and allowing the queen to have her moment, they leaned in toward each other and made lovey-dovey eyes at each other. Never one to approve of overly public displays of affection, Elizabeth cast her gaze away from the duo.

This particular public display of affection foreshadowed the pattern of attention-seeking that would come to define Andrew and Ferguson's marriage. As the queen's second son, Andrew had a "spare" complex that would motivate him to spend his life chasing wealth and status. Ferguson's overly bubbly personality and extreme capacity for people-pleasing would not make this better. As she would eventually admit in her book, "Finding Sarah: A Duchess's Journey to Find Herself," according to the Express, "I'm an addict of approval and acceptance." Indeed, in that very moment on the palace balcony, as Andrew and Ferguson siphoned attention away from the monarch, they were already showing their true colors.

These days, balcony kisses are a staple of royal weddings, but when then-Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson in 1986, they weren't exactly considered traditional. Sure, King Charles III and Princess Diana shared a passionate smooch on the balcony after their wedding — but the moment was actually an awkward attempt to compensate for the fact that Charles failed to kiss the bride after saying "I do." Because of this, the palace advised Andrew and Ferguson not to replicate Charles and Diana's iconic balcony kiss after their wedding. As Ferguson would tell Oprah in 2011, according to the Mirror, "Everyone told us not to kiss on the balcony, so we did it deliberately. We both were so in love."

Ferguson and Andrew's post-wedding kiss may have seemed like a display of unadulterated romance, but the truth is a little more complicated than that. The couple's choice to shirk the palace's advice stood as a sign that they had no respect for royal rules. This dynamic was only accentuated by the fact that Ferguson despised her extremely formal wedding lunch, where guests enjoyed lobster, salmon, and strawberries and cream. As royal journalist Andrew Lownie would later note in his book, "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York," this was all "an early indication that royal protocol was not for [Ferguson]." As time progressed, the world would watch the couple flounder in the face of duty.

A year after then-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson tied the knot, the couple's disdain for royal rules had not yet become apparent. In 1987, they followed in the footstep of many previous royal pairings and embarked on an official tour of Canada. When Andrew and Ferguson first arrived in the Land of Maple, they were greeted by enthusiastic crowds. The UPI reported at the time that "Thousands of cheering people gathered outside the provincial parliament" to catch a glimpse of the Duke and Duchess of York.

During the early days of their royal tour, the couple behaved quite well. Upon arriving in Cobourg, Andrew even went so far as to gallantly help Ferguson step down from a helicopter. This act of affection was considered much more appropriate than the wedding day kiss that made headlines — yet it still hinted at the Yorks' fondness for one another. In that moment, royal watchers saw a couple that was totally proper yet completely in love.

That illusion of formality, however, would not last long. Andrew and Ferguson made headlines on their Canadian tour for their casual attitude and lack of propriety. As Andrew Lownie noted in "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York," "Some commentators liked the lack of formality, enthusiasm, and her warmth; others thought her behavior unsophisticated and vulgar." The Yorks' relationship with duty was complex from the start.

One of the highlights of former Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's 1987 Canada tour was the celebration of their one-year wedding anniversary. Andrew celebrated by telling crowds just how happy he was to be traveling with Ferguson on his arm. "I can see certainly that I will not be able to forget my first wedding anniversary. I am looking forward to showing Sarah as much as possible of this great country," he said, according to Woman and Home. The prince then proceeded to break protocol by allowing Sarah to give a speech of her own.

But, this was not the only time that Andrew and Ferguson broke royal rules on their Canada tour. During one dinner, Ferguson leaned forward and began to strangle Andrew before a crowd. At the time, the Duchess of York herself was wearing an elegant pale pink gown, a jeweled tiara, and what appear to have been diamond earrings. To see a duchess — dressed in full regalia — behaving so informally did not just degrade Ferguson's image but also the reputation of the crown itself. Andrew, of course, did not help the situation by giggling incessantly at the breach of protocol. Although the couple's physical relationship clearly communicated their chemistry to onlookers, it also overshadowed their royal status.

If the former Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, left behind a trail of scandal in Canada, things only grew more uncomfortable on their 1987 Mauritius tour. In one of the many instances of royal outfits that showed too much leg, Ferguson wore a skirt that revealed her legs to the world after it was caught up in a big gust of wind. This moment would have been embarrassing for Ferguson, who was expected to follow the royal family dress code. The humiliation was likely only made worse by the fact that Andrew was photographed visibly ogling her legs — in a move that not only lacked royal decorum but also revealed the former prince's sleazy side.

While this interaction could have been construed as a sign of the couple's chemistry, it also hinted at Andrew's tendency to prioritize his own desires over royal duty. Writing in his book, Andrew Lownie described the former prince's penchant for objectifying women. One source apparently told him that Andrew has "spent most of his adult life at high risk of self-abuse, depression, and risky sexual encounters." One former palace staff member even told Lownie, "When I started, the staff warned me to stay away from Andrew." She later elaborated, "There were a few incidents with Andrew," but neglected to say more.

Former Prince Andrew's sleazy side was not the only red flag that emerged during the royal tour of Mauritius he enjoyed with Sarah Ferguson. Although the couple seemed comfortable together during the trip, trouble was lurking beneath the surface. On one outing, Ferguson and Andrew were photographed watching a Mauritian regatta from the comfort of a luxury boat. Their physical comfort here cannot be overstated. Ferguson sat with her arm touching Andrew's shoulder, and he demonstrated a sense of intimacy by leaning into her. This body language reveals that the then-Duke and Duchess of York felt so at ease that they didn't mind showing affection.

Beneath Andrew and Ferguson's image of affection, though, was an attitude of extreme privilege while enjoying taxpayer-funded luxuries. Following their official tour, Andrew and Ferguson indulged in a week-long holiday on the island — during which they performed exactly zero royal duties. Rather than paying for the experience themselves, they billed half the charges to a hotel company based in South Africa. Making matters worse, they asked the Mauritian government to pay the other half of their lavish vacation.

These days, that sort of arrangement wouldn't fly. In 1995, the British royal family created guidelines for royals against accepting expensive gifts. As anti-corruption specialist, Susan Hawley, told The Guardian, "Rules on not accepting gifts ... protect the reputation of the U.K. and its public institutions from accusations of being open to influence from the highest bidder."

Royal duty may not have been Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor or Sarah Ferguson's cup of tea, but the couple famously loved royal luxuries. The former Prince Andrew's lavish lifestyle — which interestingly didn't change when his titles were initially stripped in 2025 – was hugely attractive to Ferguson. The former duchess was seemingly happy to join her husband on a 1989 ski vacation at a lavish resort in Klosters, Switzerland. There, Ferguson and Andrew were photographed sharing a T-bar-style lift up the mountain. The couple's choice to travel in such tight quarters looked uncharacteristically cozy, and onlookers would have likely viewed this proximity as a sign of affection. That being said, the photo masked trouble in paradise.

Behind-the-scenes, there were whispers that Ferguson was not interested in Andrew — but rather his family's money. Even Ferguson's father wondered whether his daughter was in love with Andrew or his titles. The then-duchess was famously high-maintenance, even asking her staff to iron her underclothes after treating them with a very particular brand of softener. As for Andrew, he hardly seemed unhappy with this arrangement. Speaking to Andrew Lownie for his book, "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York," one of the prince's chauffeurs claimed that the prince met with "more than a dozen women before their first anniversary." Ferguson, meanwhile, felt abandoned by Andrew, especially during his leave in the Royal British Navy.

Although Sarah Ferguson and then Prince Andrew struggled to keep their marriage alive, they did a good job of portraying themselves as a happy couple in public. On their 1988 tour of Australia, Andrew and Ferguson showered each other with affection in front of the cameras. At a Naval staff dinner, the former prince held Ferguson's hand as he guided her down the stairs. The then-duchess responded by gazing adoringly into Andrew's eyes. Indeed, it was difficult to imagine all the tensions that were brewing just below the surface. 

It's worth noting, however, that Andrew and Ferguson were very particular about which photographs of their Australia tour would be taken to begin with. Speaking with Woman's Day, Aussie photographer Craig Holmes said that he had been hired to take pictures of the royal couple on one of their days out during the royal tour. Andrew, however, was not happy with the prospect of being captured on film — and ultimately raised his voice at Holmes. "He was pretty upset because he didn't want to get caught in an embarrassing situation, I can understand that," the photographer recalled.

Ferguson was apparently much kinder to Holmes. In the same interview, Holmes remembered how the then-duchess, "came up to me herself after I'd taken the photographs ... and she said, 'Would you send me those five or six photos?'" These interactions, though, stand as a reminder that the couple had a lot of control over their public image. 

Sarah Ferguson separated from the former Prince Andrew in 1992 before filing for divorce in 1996. However, for years, speculations swirled about the nature of the duo's relationship. Andrew and Ferguson shared a residence at the Royal Lodge at Windsor, where they cohabited in relative peace. They co-owned a property together in Switzerland. And, Andrew would not dispel rumors that the two were romantically involved, even telling Tatler in 2000, "I don't rule remarriage out and I certainly don't rule it in. If ever the opportunity arose, I do not know what I would do, as it is not in the plan."

These words created quite a bit of buzz around then-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's relationship. Interestingly, the duo's body language also just propelled the rumors forward. At the 2019 Royal Ascot, Andrew and Ferguson displayed quite a bit of physical intimacy, with the then-duchess leaning into her ex-husband. Andrew seemed to welcome the closeness, leaning into Ferguson in turn. These small gestures serve as proof of the strong friendship that persisted between the former Duke and Duchess of York — even long after their divorce. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2018, Ferguson shared, "We're the happiest divorced couple in the world. We're divorced to each other, not from each other." She later added, in a statement that perhaps speaks to Ferguson's morals more than anything else, "I married the finest man."