Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle have found themselves at the center of fresh comparisons following the fallout from Meghan’s leaked email controversy. Royal biographer and commentator Andrew Lownie delivered the remarks during an event with Foreign Press Association journalists in London, speaking to Australia’s Nine.com.au.
Lownie pointed out that Ferguson, widely known as Fergie, has long maintained a complicated position within the monarchy. “Fergie has been half-in, half-out for 30 years, and they didn’t do anything,” he said. He explained that Ferguson’s continued presence in royal life blurred boundaries despite her divorce from Prince Andrew.
“I think the argument was that they were separated and then divorced, but, again, half-in, half-out. We know she was in the Royal Box [at Wimbledon] and at royal functions and living with her husband. So it’s just complete hypocrisy, the whole thing.”
Turning his attention to Meghan, Lownie drew a sharp comparison between the Duchess of Sussex and Ferguson. “Meghan is just a less charming version of Fergie… Fergie did it much better than Meghan,” he said, suggesting that the monarchy could have followed Ferguson’s example in allowing Meghan and Prince Harry to remain “half-in” while pursuing independence.
“It’s crazy, they could have had a half-in, I mean, there is a model there,” he added. Lownie went further by discussing Prince Andrew’s ambitions for his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. He alleged that Andrew sees them as potential solutions to what he described as a “royal void.”
“What Andrew is doing now is he’s transferred all his ambitions to his daughter,” Lownie said. “He’s pushing them, they’re part of the family business, they’re doing a lot of work in the Middle East, at least at the moment. Also, he’s trying to get them into the royal family to take on life as a working royal.”
The remarks add another layer to ongoing debates about the monarchy’s handling of members who step back from full-time duties. Ferguson, despite her scandals and divorce, has remained close to the royal family for decades, while Harry and Meghan’s partial withdrawal has drawn sharp criticism and led to fractured relationships.
For commentators like Lownie, the differing standards highlight contradictions within the institution itself, raising questions about who is permitted to navigate a “half-in, half-out” royal role. His comments suggest that unresolved tensions around Meghan’s departure may have been avoidable had the palace applied the same leniency it once extended to Ferguson.