Royals could take ‘unprecedented’ move to silence Sarah Ferguson

As Sarah Ferguson plans her own path to revenge, Prince William and King Charles could be forced to take drastic measures to protect the Crown

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Having all but fled the UK in December amidst the on-going scandal that has unceremoniously swept her up in recent months, Sarah Ferguson was last week spotted enjoying yet another spa break, this time in Ireland.

Having previously praised Donegal’s wild coastline, and its nearby luxury spa resort, as the perfect place to retreat when ‘things sometimes get overwhelming’, her words may now be coming back to haunt her as something of an understatement this time around.

Now facing an uncertain future after being unceremoniously stripped of her lucrative Duchess title last year and requested to vacate Royal Lodge, her 30-bedroom mansion, Sarah, 66, could now be facing dire straits.

However, Sarah hasn’t earned her reputation as the Royal Family’s ‘comeback queen’ for nothing, and after weeks of planning her UK return – while holidaying in the alps and relaxing in a £13,000 a day Swiss clinic no less – it has been widely reported that her next move could be the most shocking of all as she reportedly plans to pen her own explosive tell-all.

‘She knows where the bodies are buried, so to speak, she knows where the skeletons are in the closet and she can absolutely expose them if she wants to,’ one royal reporter recently claimed.

Now a source tells us Sarah is ‘very close’ to signing what is set to be a very lucrative book deal as we’re told she’ll leave no stone unturned in her bid to tell her own carefully crafted tale of revenge.

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The insider says, ‘It’s widely known that Sarah is being wooed to do a book and very close to signing a deal. She’s going to earn an absolute fortune, which she desperately needs, but more than that she’s convinced it will be her ticket to redemption.

‘She claims she’s been scapegoated for years and believes that once she lays out what she says she was forced to endure inside the monarchy, the public will finally understand her side.

‘She is prepared to lift the lid on everything from the treatment Diana endured to behaviour within the Firm that she claims has never been properly addressed. If the royals are going to turn on her, she is prepared to turn on them.’

However, with the Royal Family now being forced to navigate what could be their biggest scandal to date following Sarah’s ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest last fortnight on suspicion of misconduct in public office; we’re told the Firm are determined to be one step ahead of Sarah and may consider an unprecedented move to silence her.

‘For the Palace, this is a nightmare scenario. The King and William both believe she has the potential to cause lasting damage to the already shaky monarchy, so the feeling is they need to take a very hard stance,’ the source says.

‘The reality is that if Sarah moves forward with this book, the Palace will not simply sit back and hope for the best. And if that means getting the courts involved, then so be it.

‘Legal options are being actively discussed. An injunction is not off the table, and neither is direct action to block publication if it crosses certain lines. It would be unprecedented for the monarchy to take action, but these are unprecedented times.’

While the arrest of Andrew, who is currently ‘under investigation’ but has not been charged with any crime and has denied wrongdoing , may have been a first for the Royal Family, it was also reported that King Charles had not been forewarned; ultimately forcing the Firm to go into crisis mode as they pulled a last minute statement together.

And the source says that with questions being raised over whether Andrew’s alleged behaviour had been ‘covered up’ and with calls for him to be removed from the line of succession, King 77, and Prince William, 43, will take ‘whatever means necessary’ to protect the monarchy at such a vulnerable time.

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The insider says, ‘A few months ago, no one would have believed Andrew would be arrested or stripped of his titles and evicted. Yet here we are. So many unthinkable lines have been crossed; at this stage it’s about keeping the monarchy alive, whatever means necessary.

‘The King and William both agree that they cannot afford another uncontrolled narrative; they will throw everything they’ve got at stopping Sarah from putting out anything that makes them, or the institution look bad.’

After years of continuing to praise her disgraced ex-husband, 66, as a ‘humongously good’ and ‘kind’ man, the tide of public forgiveness well and truly turned against Sarah last year as she found herself entrenched in the Epstein scandal.

Sarah was forced to begin her onslaught of public grovelling last September after being caught red handed when a shocking email between her and the now-deceased Epstein was made public.

In the exchange, sent in April 2011, a month after she had denounced their friendship in a public statement; in which she said she ‘abhor[s] paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children’, Sarah refers to sex trafficker Epstein as a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’. It later emerged that Epstein had given her £15,000 the previous year to help pay off her debts.

Sarah’s spokesperson at the time insisted the email had been sent following a ‘really menacing and nasty phonecall’ during which he threatened to take legal action against her.

The fallout was monumental, with one royal commentator summarising, ‘Her lucrative children’s book career is in tatters. Her career as a romantic novelist is also dead and buried. No respectable charity will touch her with a barge pole – the door to redemption through good works has been slammed in her face.’

But the scandal only deepened last month when further emails were released. In one interaction she allegedly describes Epstein as ‘being the brother I have always wished for’ while in another she writes, ‘You are a legend. I really don’t have the words to describe, my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness…I am at your service . Just marry me.’

And the source says the royals are all too aware of Sarah’s potential motives and plan to tread carefully to avoid essentially promoting the book by giving it any publicity; good or otherwise.

‘They don’t trust Sarah one bit and are convinced she’ll be using this book as a way to try and put the blame on anyone but herself,’ the source says.

‘She’s telling people this book will be her redemption; she says she won’t be scared into silence. She says she only intends to print the truth, so she’s not afraid of any court case. She’s saying any attempt to silence her would only fuel interest in her book

‘So, if William and Charles don’t manage to totally stop it coming out, the chances are that they will at least be granted the option to go through an advanced copy and fight every claim that involves them or the family before it hits bookshelves.’

Meanwhile, despite their differences, the source says there is one person who neither Charles and William or Sarah has any inclination to protect – Andrew – as we’re told the royals would not grant him any access to legal help should he need it.
‘As far as any claims about Andrew, as long as they aren’t involved in any way, they won’t be intervening,’ the source says.

‘He’s on his own going forward and will get no help from their mammoth legal team. That should be some solace for Sarah, when it comes to Andrew she can do her worst.’

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