Source: Page Six
For excitable royal watchers, the most interesting thing about the Friday wedding of Britain’s Princess Eugenie and her fiancé Jack Brooksbank won’t be the eye-popping hats or the couple’s carriage ride through the streets of Windsor.
It’s the anticipation of the moment cantankerous Prince Philip must acknowledge the mother-of-the-bride, Sarah Ferguson, former brand ambassador for Weight Watchers, at the ceremony inside St George’s Chapel.
There’s even a chance the 97-year-old consort to Queen Elizabeth II might stay away from the nuptials altogether, so contemptuous is he of his one-time daughter-in-law.
The UK’s Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday that he will decide on the morning itself whether he will attend, though Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, told The Post his pride wouldn’t allow him to miss the occasion because of Fergie.
“It would be very small-minded of him to let her get it in the way,” she said. “He is very close to Eugenie and, even given his age, wouldn’t miss her big day.”
Royal author Duncan Larcombe agreed, adding that there will likely be an awkward moment when he sets eyes on Fergie.
“Don’t expect pistols at dawn, but there’s no love lost between them,” he said. “If there’s one thing the Windsors are good at, it’s holding a grudge.”
Philip has snubbed the Duchess of York ever since the summer of 1992. That’s when the spirited redhead was photographed having her toes sucked by a man who was not her father-in-law’s favorite son.
‘Don’t expect pistols at dawn, but there’s no love lost between them. If there’s one thing the Windsors are good at, it’s holding a grudge.’
But the ex-wife of Prince Andrew will be front and center at their younger daughter’s marriage.
The swanky affair will be shown live on TLC.Said Charles Rae, a veteran royal correspondent: “Fergie will be the second most important person there, after the bride.
“She makes steam come out Philip’s ears, but she will behave like the cat that got the cream.”
The diva-like presence of Sarah, Duchess of York, raises questions about the 58-year-old’s role in the royal family today and how it may change in the future. It’s no secret she has been treated as an interloper by other prominent members such as Prince Charles and Prince William for a quarter of a century.
But, earlier this year, she made an extraordinary comeback after being invited to the star-studded spring nuptials of Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle. Some of the crowd’s wildest applause was reserved for Fergie when she strutted to the chapel, head held high, in a fitted navy and pink ensemble.
“We’ve seen a resurgence, mostly because of the fanfare around her arrival in May, ” noted Seward. “She was super-friendly to everyone and it reminded people of how she used to be when she first appeared on the scene.
“The small glimpse we had of her that day was like the Fergie of old.”
The British public fell in love with naval officer Prince Andrew’s bubbly bride when she kissed him — a little too enthusiastically — on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day in July 1986.
As a child, the flame-haired daughter of Major Ron Ferguson, who ran The Guards Polo Club for Prince Philip, used to play tag with her future husband behind the stands at games. She was accustomed to meeting the Queen. When Fergie and the Prince began dating as adults, it seemed like the perfect match.
She appeared to have a jolly, everyday persona, embraced her royal duties and never seemed as shy as her one-time confidante, Princess Diana, wife of Prince Charles.
However, things quickly soured between the Brits and Fergie in 1987 after she ill-advisedly competed in a farcical British TV game show clad in medieval fancy dress. Reports surfaced of her extravagant spending. After the birth of her daughters, she gained weight and the tabloids brutally called her “The Duchess of Pork.” Later, Diana stopped speaking to her after she wrote in her biography that Di gave her plantar warts from a pair of borrowed shoes. They never got around to making up before Diana’s death in 1997.
Meanwhile, her relationship with Andrew deteriorated largely because of his long absences at sea and, when he was home, his penchant for vegging out in front of the TV. An announcement of their amicable separation was made in March 1992. It didn’t stop one BBC diplomatic correspondent from telling viewers: “The knives are out for Fergie in the palace.”
Three months later, explosive paparazzi pictures emerged of Fergie…
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