A new book about the House of York, represented by disgraced Prince Andrew and his loyal but feckless ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, paints a pretty unflattering portrait of the duo, revealing how, separately and together, they were rude to staff and acted entitled to special treatment and the most luxurious of surroundings, even if they never had the money themselves to fund their lavish lifestyles.
Andrew and Sarah also were both sexually voracious, with one of Andrew’s ex-lovers telling author Andrew Lownie, for his book “Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York,” that the couple had “an open marriage” before they separated in 1992 and divorced in 1998.
When it comes to Sarah, the “bubbly young redhead was initially seen as a breath of fresh air when she married (Andrew) in 1986,” writes Lownie in an excerpt published in the Daily Mail. But she exploited her royal status every chance she got, while “she partied, took lovers and was indiscreet,” he wrote.
At one point, the estranged daughter-in-law of the late Queen Elizabeth II wanted to make John F. Kennedy Jr. her lover. She then tried to seduce Kevin Costner, and then Tiger Woods. She never landed any of these famous men, but her pursuit of them was indicative of how she sometimes displayed the immaturity of a “schoolgirl,” according to Lownie.
From the except, it’s not clear when Sarah traveled to New York City and sought a meeting with John F. Kennedy Jr. But this trip would have taken place sometime between 1989 and 1994, when he was in a tumultuous, on-off relationship with actor Daryl Hannah.
During the trip, Sarah asked her staff to find out if Kennedy Jr., the tall, dark and handsome son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Onassis, was in town, Lownie reported. Once Sarah learned he was around, she contacted him and invited him to come for drinks and dinner at her hotel. Kennedy Jr. accepted, no doubt because he always seemed to enjoy the company of other celebrities.
When Sarah was told that Hannah was his girlfriend, she replied: “That’s not going to bother me!” according to Lownie. But Hannah was bothered, and Kennedy abruptly canceled, claiming a prior engagement. Sarah wasn’t sure whether to believe he had a prior engagement and ordered her staff to spy on his apartment all night to see if he told the truth.
Even after being rebuffed, the duchess was determined to try and meet up with Kennedy Jr., especially after she heard that her sister-in-law, Princess Diana, had once enjoyed some alone-time with him at a New York hotel over Christmas 1995, Lownie reported.
“He’s mine!” Sarah declared. “Why can’t she just leave him alone?’
A close friend of Sarah’s told Lownie that she would spend hours talking about Kennedy Jr. “It’s incredibly real to her, like a schoolgirl crush,” the friend said. “She spends hours talking about him. The fact that she’s never even met him doesn’t seem to matter at all.”
Sarah’s next “amorous obsession” was Costner, who divorced his first wife, Cindy Silva, in 1994, after 16 years of marriage, according to Lownie. It’s not clear from the excerpt whether Sarah actually ever met the “Bull Durham” and “Field of Dreams” star. But she tried to attract him by inundating him with “raunchy phone calls,” Lownie also reported. Costner was not charmed and reportedly told friends: “She’s a woman crying out for love.”
Sarah soon turned her sights on Tiger Woods, then a young golf phenom. According to Lownie, she told Piers Morgan, then editing the U.K. tabloid The Daily Mirror, that she was “in love” with Woods. She had flown 1,500 miles to meet him. “He’s so gorgeous,” she also said before asking Morgan if he thought she stood a chance with Woods.
When Morgan suggested Woods might not have much room in his schedule for dating royals, Fergie replied, “Well. I am going to follow him around the course for a bit and see how I get on.” Morgan concluded: “Poor old Tiger isn’t going to know what’s hit him.”
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