Sarah Ferguson is seen for the first time in months ‘at a luxury ski resort in Austria’
Sarah Ferguson has been seen for the first time in months at a ‘luxury’ ski resort in Austria.
The 66-year-old, was stripped of her Duchess of York title last year in the wake of her links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ex-wife appeared expressionless as she walked to a people carrier from a chalet at a ‘luxury’ Alpine ski resort.
Dressed in a blue coat and wearing glasses, the former duchess carried a teal tote bag with her hair nestled beneath a white baseball cap.
She appeared stony-faced as she emerged from a black Mercedes people carrier with tinted windows while wearing a light blue top with hoop earrings.
The pictures published in The Sun are the first time Fergie has been seen in public since last year amid calls for her to provide US officials with evidence after the emergence of her relationship with Epstein.
The 66-year-old had gone off the radar after a trove of documents released by the US Department of Justice, known as the Epstein Files, revealed damning emails between her and the paedophile financier.
Yesterday, a source told the publication that Fergie had been ‘keeping an incredibly low profile’ in the Alps, as she ‘clearly’ wanted to keep out of public view for the foreseeable.
‘Her choice of outfit when she popped out was obviously carefully chosen to help her avoid being recognised,’ they added.
Sarah Ferguson pictured in September last year. She has now been snapped in Austria, according to The Sun
Sarah Ferguson has been seen for the first time in months at a ‘luxury’ Alpine ski resort amid growing scrutiny over her links to Jeffrey Epstein (pictured)
‘The area is absolutely beautiful, and it’s very quiet most of the time, so it’s the perfect place for a high-profile figure such as her to lie low when the heat is on.’
The ex-duchess was last photographed driving from Royal Lodge, where she lived with her ex-husband Andrew for decades, a week after her last official outing, being the Duchess of Kent’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral on September 16.
And on December 12, 2025, she attempted to hide in the back of a car as she arrived for her one-year-old granddaughter, Athena’s christening at St James’s Palace.
Meanwhile, speculation about her whereabouts began to swirl after she and Andrew were evicted from the Grade II-listed mansion in February, where her ex-husband paid ‘peppercorn rent’ for over two decades.
The disgraced former Duke, who was stripped of his titles last year, was served notice to surrender the lease at the 30-bedroom mansion last October.
The move was entirely down to the King and his advisers, without pressure from the Government or other family members, such as Prince William, sources told the Daily Mail at the time.
Fergie was understood to be making her own living arrangements; however, in January, she had yet to find a permanent property as she was in the midst of a ‘housing crisis’, as her children could not offer her a home.
And while Andrew prepared to move into Wood Farm, and then subsequently Marsh Farm, in Sandringham, the 66-year-old would ‘not be moving in’, as she wanted to stay in the Windsor area.
At the time, she was said to be in a ‘fragile’ state over her fall from grace, telling friends her recent travails were ‘not good for my mental health’.
Currently, the former duchess is rumoured to be placing ‘false breadcrumbs’ in a bid to stay under the radar.
But the 66-year-old, who wrote a memoir called Finding Fergie, has been seen hiding at a £2,000-a-night ski chalet amid the fallout of the Epstein scandal, with sources claiming she rarely leaves to head outdoors.
It comes as US lawmakers have made continued calls for Fergie to testify in front of Congress about her ‘close personal and business ties’ with convicted paedophile, Epstein. The former royal has not yet answered their request.
Last month, Democrat Congressman Suhas Subramanyam ‘respectfully’ requested the former Duchess give evidence as a part of a government investigation into the paedophile financier’s sex trafficking operations.
He urged Sarah to ‘provide information’ relating to Epstein’s crimes and those of his co-conspirators, which includes disgraced former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
He also sought any further information about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s involvement in Epstein’s operations after the former Prince appeared several times in the millions of documents published by the Justice Department.
Subramanyam asked Sarah to provide a response no later than April 9, marking the most direct call for her to testify since the investigation began.
Sarah is not under any legal obligation to give evidence in the US, but she is facing increased pressure from Subramanyam and other members of congress to do so.
In March, Fergie was mentioned numerous times in the latest Epstein files release, with emails suggesting he had been bankrolling her for 15 years.
In one 2009 email, she is believed to have said to Epstein: ‘I urgently need 20,000 pounds ($27,521) for rent today.
‘The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay. Any brainwaves?’
In another gushing message, she appears to say ‘Just marry me’ after a string of compliments to the paedophile who had been convicted of soliciting sex from a minor the year before.
Ferguson even seemed to involve her own children with Epstein, apparently talking of then-19-year-old Eugenie coming back from a ‘sh***ng weekend’ in 2010.
She is also believed to have introduced her then-22-year-old goddaughter to Epstein following his release from prison.
In one 2011 email, she wrote that he was a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’ to her and her family.
The correspondence was sent after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008 and after she denounced her involvement with him as an error of judgement.
At the time, a spokesman for the former duchess said the email was sent in response to legal threats following her public comments.
Meanwhile, in the midst of her eviction from the Grade II-listed mansion on the grounds of Windsor Castle, questions about Fergie’s future were also raised as she closed six of her businesses in just three days.
In September, seven charities cut ties with the former duchess after she wrote to Epstein calling him a ‘supreme friend’.
Children’s charity Julia’s House said it would be ‘inappropriate’ to stay involved with Ferguson after her emailed apology to Epstein emerged – and other organisations swiftly followed suit.
The founders of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation announced they are severing ties with Sarah, who was previously one of their patrons – while fellow charity Prevent Breast Cancer announced a similar move.
The Children’s Literacy Charity also asked her to step down as patron, calling any continued role ‘inappropriate’ after what it described as ‘the recent information’ which came to light about the Duchess of York and Epstein.
The Teenage Cancer Trust revealed the Duchess was no longer a patron of the charity which she has long backed since it opened its first unit in 1990, and to whom she introduced her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, who remain as patrons.
The British Heart Foundation also dropped her as an ambassador, while the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals removed all mention of the Duchess from its ‘wonderful ambassadors’ page.
The York family: Beatrice, Sarah, Andrew and Eugenie pictured at a gathering
A source told The Sun that the Epstein files had struck Fergie ‘like a sledgehammer’, as the former duchess has wanted to remain isolated and she can’t bear to face what has been transpiring.
Adding that very few people were informed of her whereabouts, they said the 66-year-old had been ‘laying false breadcrumbs’ in a bid to remain out of the gaze of the public eye.
And while Fergie has seen her ex-husband was arrested in February, the source said: ‘While she knows the scandal is not going away, she effectively has her head in the sand and has taken the decision to hide away for as long as possible.’
The disgraced former Duchess has been left with ‘nowhere to go’, the source claimed, adding that she has not been invited to live in Sandringham alongside Andrew, with her two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, said to be keeping ‘their distance’.
‘It’s the first time she has to fend for herself for two decades,’ the source added.
Andrew, Fergie, and their daughters were absent from this year’s Easter Service in Windsor amid the Epstein fallout. However, it is believed that in the future, Beatrice and Eugenie will attend royal events.
In February, Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office amid claims that he shared sensitive information with Epstein while serving as a trade envoy, after he and Fergie were stripped of their royal titles.
It came as a trove of millions of documents, known as the Epstein files, was released by the US Department of Justice, containing correspondence suggesting he may have shared sensitive trade information.
The disgraced duke was held in custody for 11 hours and was later released under investigation. Days later, the former US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson was also taken into custody.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who remains eighth in line to the throne, has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Fergie has continued to face more shame in her fall from grace as the city councillors unanimously voted to remove her honorary Freedom of the City of York.
Both she and Andrew were awarded the honour a year after their marriage during a visit to York. The ex-duke was stripped of the honour in 2022.
It comes as Andrew has been urged to give up his City of London Freedom honour amid the fallout of his links with the paedophile financier.
It is understood that elected members of the City of London Corporation have written to the former prince asking him to relinquish his honour.
The disgraced former duke was awarded the honour by ‘virtue of patrimony’ in 2012 because his late father, Prince Philip, was formerly a Freeman.
Last March, the organisation, which manages the so-called Square Mile, had been investigating whether it could strip Andrew of the title.
But now, the City of London Corporation has called on the 66-year-old to relinquish the honour amid his links to sex offender Epstein.