Why Prince Philip couldn't stand to be in the same room as Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York: Inside their 20-year-long feud

Sarah Ferguson has recently been welcomed back into the royal fold, with the Duchess of York appearing alongside the broader royal family more and more in the past year.

But why was she ousted in the first place?

That would be due to her former father-in-law Prince Philip's intense dislike of her, with the late royal reportedly unable to stand even being in the same room as his son Prince Andrew's ex-wife.

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But it wasn't always this way. In fact, in the beginning of Andrew's marriage to Fergie, they bonded over their shared love of flying – with Fergie becoming the first female royal family member to earn a private pilot's license in 1986, and later a helicopter license in 1987. They also shared a "bawdy" sense of humour, according to one 1987 Vanity Fair article.

But as Ferguson's marriage to Andrew dwindled, so would her relationship with her in-laws. And it all came to a breaking point one morning in August of 1992, when the Daily Mirror published a front-page photo of Ferguson having her toes sucked by American financial manager John Bryan as she sunbathed topless on holiday.

An oft-repeated anecdote about the incident inside the walls of Balmoral includes Prince Philip marching downstairs, brandishing a copy of the offending newspaper in hand before showing it to Ferguson and remarking, "There but for the grace of God go I."

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The Queen quietly told her to "pack her bags", and with that she was exiled from the inner circle of the royal family.

But it didn't end their association – they are family after all. Fergie was often invited back to Balmoral during the royal's annual summer holiday by the Queen, who had a soft-spot for her – but she would be invited a few days before Philip was so that she could make herself scarce by the time her former father-in-law visited.

"Prince Philip does not like being in the same building as her," one source close to Ferguson said.

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On one trip in 2005 their crossover couldn't be avoided and "He avoided her like the plague," another friend shared, "I don't think they spoke a single word all week."

This continued for decades, even putting Philip's presence at the 2018 wedding of his beloved granddaughter Princess Eugenie in the balance. According to one tabloid, he said he would make his decision to attend on a "wake up and see how I feel" basis.

But in a surprise twist, not only did he end up going, he also posed right next to her in the official wedding portrait. While some took this as a sign of the icy relationship thawing, others said they were simply positioned that way in order of their relation to the bride.

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After Philip's passing in 2021, the Queen reportedly invited Sarah back to Sandringham after she was allegedly banned by her father-in-law.

"I think a lot of it is since Prince Philip passed away, who couldn't bear her and didn't allow her to come to Sandringham in 20-something years," royal author Angela Levin said.

"So when he died, The Queen started getting much more friendly with her. She always liked her because she made her laugh, and she's so bubbly and alive.

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"Both her children have got their own children, and she has been a very good mother. She has never said a bad word about the monarchy, and she's never said a bad word about Prince Andrew, she always said 'he's a wonderful father' and she's stuck to being very moral."

But the Queen was never able to welcome her back publicly, seemingly not wanting to betray her late husband's memory.

After Queen Elizabeth's death in September 2022, Ferguson has slowly been welcomed back into the inner circle she was kicked out of twenty years beforehand.

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With Charles now King, he reportedly invited her to Christmas with the family that year, but it was another year before she made her grand return at Sandringham on the family's annual Christmas walk, surprising royal fans lining up to see them.

"Sarah has always been close to the king and is fond of him, and she has increasingly grown closer to the queen [Camilla]," a royal insider told Page Six.

"She's always been loyal to the family and has really not put a foot wrong in recent years. She's never said a critical word and is always extremely loyal to the institution."

Another told the outlet: "Fergie is really the glue that holds the Yorks together. She's devoted to her girls and grandchildren and lives with the duke day to day and has seen him through this difficult period, which has been appreciated by the wider family."

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