This time last year Sarah Ferguson was at Wimbledon sat in the Royal Box at the invitation of King Charles – what a lot has changed in 12 months. On June 30, 2025 the then 65-year-old Fergie attended the first day of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships with her eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, as they took a prime seat in the Royal Box.

It made headlines as it marked Fergie’s highly-publicised return to the prestigious VIP Royal Box for the first time in decades, with her last appearance there dating back to 1988 when she attended beside Princess Diana. While invitations to the historic 74-seat enclosure are exclusively extended by the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s (AELTC) chair, reports from royal insiders indicated that Charles intervened to support her high-profile return.

Now fast forward to July 2026 and there has been not a Fergie in sight at the home of strawberries and cream, “new balls please”, Henman’s Hill and Murray’s Mount.

It fact, it would be easier for Sarah Ferguson to ascend Mount Everest than it would be for her to get a VIP escort up and over Henman’s Hill.

So much has changed for her and ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in the last 12 months and none of it has been good.

In 1992 the late Queen Elizabeth once talked about an Annus Horribilis – well Fergie was involved in that as part of the nightmare that year that was her separation from Andrew.

Also that year saw the separations of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips; and the-then Prince Charles and Princess Diana as well as the publication of Andrew Morton’s tell-all book, Diana: Her True Story, and the devastating fire at Windsor Castle.

That now looks like a hazy day and picnic on Primrose Hill compared to the 12 months Fergie and Andrew have just endured – and it is hard to have much sympathy for them.

Both have denied any wrongdoing over their association with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein but both also publicly claimed they had cut off ties with the US financier after his sex crime conviction when in fact they had not.

Pre-Epstein Files, Fergie’s lowest ebb was probably the infamous 2010 ‘Cash-for-Access Scandal’ when she was filmed accepting £15,000 to facilitate access to ‘Prince’ Andrew, admitting later she was in a financial crisis.

But in January, when the US Department of Justice released millions of documents relating to Epstein, Fergie was dragged down into a new hell as they unmasked her relentless greed.

In July 2009 she tapped up Epstein to pay for her business class flights to jet out to the States to see him just days after he was released from prison for procuring a 14-year-old child for prostitution.

She had no moral qualms about sitting down to have lunch, a veggie lasagne, with a newly freed child sex abuser – just because he paid for her flights, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie’s too, to the US.

While in May 2010, she begged the now convicted pervert to hire her as his “House Assistant,” writing: “I am the most capable and desperately need the money,” and “Please Jeffrey think about it”.

The Files also revealed gushing Fergie hailed Epstein as “a legend”, telling him in one message: “I am at your service . Just marry me.”

She can thank her lucky stars he never said yes. So no – we won’t be seeing Sarah Ferguson in the Royal Box again. She probably didn’t like tennis anyway.