Sarah Ferguson was seen jetting off today at London Heathrow on a Christmas trip without Prince Andrew, as his bitter feud with brother Charles continues over the Royal Lodge.
The Duchess of York, who still resides at the Windsor property despite divorcing Prince Andrew nearly three decades ago, has previously self-proclaimed herself and the Duke of York as the ‘happiest divorced couple in the world’.
However, although maintaining a such a close bond, Fergie set off solo for the Austrian capital of Vienna to take in the many festive sights on offer.
Speaking in a TikTok video from Heathrow departures, the Duchess of York told her followers: ‘It’s Monday and I decided that we need to get the Christmas spirit going.
 ‘Heathrow Airport on my way to Vienna. And what am I doing in Vienna? I am going to see (the) Christmas fair’.
Attempting to drum up some festive cheer, Fergie continued: ‘The airports are just so exciting. It’s a new adventure, new day, new journey. Let’s go’.
This all comes as Prince Andrew and King Charles continue on their grudging dispute in the wake of elder brother Charles cutting Andrew’s financial lifelines.
The King stopped paying his disgraced brother’s £3 million-a-year security bill at the 30-room Windsor Royal Lodge last month and urged him to move into more modest accommodation as part of an extraordinary row dubbed ‘the siege of Royal Lodge’.
Sarah Ferguson spoke to followers from Heathrow departures ahead of her trip to Vienna
Andrew has since been allowed to stay at the property in Windsor Great Park after convincing Palace authorities that he has secured enough funds to support himself
Prince Andrew and King Charles are continuing on their grudging dispute in the wake of elder brother Charles cutting Andrew’s financial lifelines
But Andrew has since been allowed to stay at the property in Windsor Great Park after convincing Palace authorities that he has secured enough funds to support himself.
Mystery remains over the exact source of Andrew’s funding, but it has been muted that Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens approved the financing as coming from legitimate sources.
Earlier this month, the Daily Mail’s acclaimed royal writer Robert Hardman revealed in his updated biography of Charles III that the King has also severed his brother’s annual personal allowance, believed to be £1 million a year.
Andrew, however, claims to have found ‘other sources of income related to his contacts in international trade’, a source told Hardman.
The Duke signed a 75-year lease agreement with the Crown Estate for Royal Lodge in 2003. He pays rent reported to be £260,000 a year and must also ‘repair, renew, uphold, clean and keep in repair and where necessary rebuild’ the sprawling property.
In an increasingly acrimonious stand-off, the King, 75, has been attempting to persuade Andrew, 64, to move to nearby Frogmore Cottage, recently vacated by Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex.
The revelation that he has found the funding to remain in Royal Lodge will raise fears that Andrew is exploiting the foreign business contacts he accumulated during the decade he spent as Britain’s trade envoy.
In 2019 the MoS revealed how he used the taxpayer-funded role to quietly promote a private Luxembourg-based bank for the super-rich, owned by controversial multi-millionaire David Rowland and his family.
Sarah Ferguson was seen jetting off today at London Heathrow on a Christmas trip without Prince Andrew
The King urged his brother to move to more modest accommodation after he stopped paying his disgraced brother’s £3 million-a-year security bill at the 30-room mansion last month
The Duke signed a 75-year lease agreement with the Crown Estate for Royal Lodge in 2003
The revelation that he has found the funding to remain in Royal Lodge will raise fears that Andrew is exploiting the foreign business contacts he made during his time as Britain’s trade envoy
Despite living the lifestyle of a billionaire for years, with an extensive collection of watches, including a £150,000 Patek Philippe, and a small fleet of luxury cars, mystery has surrounded Andrew’s finances. Charles’s decision to sever his allowance means his only official income comes via a small Navy pension of about £20,000–a-year.
Buckingham Palace refused to comment on reports that Sir Michael, a former accountant with KPMG who was appointed Keeper of the Privy Purse in 2018, had approved Andrew’s apparently new funding as coming from legitimate sources. It is unknown what checks took place – or, crucially, how long Andrew said the funding would be in place for.
The secrecy will fuel fears that Andrew’s dealings could plunge the Royal Family into a fresh scandal.
There have been mounting calls for clarity from both sides of the political divide too, with MPs seeking assurances over the sourcing of Andrew’s funding.Â
Earlier this month, York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell told the MoS: ‘When the funding for the Royal Family is due to rise by £45 million next year to a staggering £132 million, serious questions need to be asked as to why the monarch’s brother continues to reside at his mansion.
‘There must be greater transparency on the source of the money that has allowed Andrew to stay at Royal Lodge.’
Similarly, Nigel Mills, a former Tory MP who served on the Public Accounts Committee, said: ‘If he was renting a private house then we wouldn’t have any interest in who was giving him money for rent. But while he is living in a house that is owned by the monarchy, then some transparency is necessary.
‘If the person who is giving the money doesn’t want to be named, then it’s probably a better idea for them not to give money to a disgraced prince.’