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| Sarah Margaret Ferguson, born on 15 October 1959, is distantly related to the royals. Her closeness to the Windsors meant she came into regular contact with Prince Andrew when they played together as children. | |
Fergie had an unhappy schooling at a private ballet school, often crying herself to sleep. Matters deteriorated when, in 1972, her parents divorced. Her mother remarried and moved to Argentina, and later her father too remarried, having three more children. She graduated from Queen's Secretarial College at 18 and went into PR earning a routine London living. During this period she dated famous racing driver Paddy McNally and lived a flamboyant social life. In 1985, at a Windsor Castle party, she began her romance with Andrew. They were married in July 1986 at Westminster Abbey and have two girls, Beatrice and Eugenie. Andrew's Naval career proved testing for their relationship - they spent 42 days a year together - but from it came Fergie's interest in helicopters, which she later used to write children's books. Fergie left Andrew in 1992 and, heavily in debt, pursued a career in the media. The divorce, however, was not made official until 1996. She has since admitted that royal responsibilities destroyed their marriage, and that the couple are still in love and may remarry one day. | ||
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