14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this month, the News of the World tabloid orchestrated a sting that revealed how easily the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, could be talked into offering the key to her high-placed contacts within the royal family, including her former husband. Today, Oprah will air the first interview with the disgraced Duchess since the scandal, having taped it on Friday, and Mrs. Ferguson will explain what exactly was in her mind at the time.
There really wasn’t that much, People magazine has learned, for she claims she’d been drinking at the time, which seriously impaired her judgment. Moreover, she’d been under a lot of stress lately because of her financial situation – she’s said to be about £1 million in debt and with virtually no possibility of covering that – so this too contributed to the rash gesture of asking for bribe in return for favors from Prince Andrew. Still, above everything, it was the alcohol in her talking.
As the teaser below also shows, in the interview, which was initially meant to last no more than 10 minutes but was then turned into the main segment of today’s episode, Oprah will ask the Duchess all those questions that have been burning headlines in recent days. Excerpts from the interview made available online show that, while she’s aware that her drinking that day is not a proper excuse, it did contribute to her losing her head – especially when she saw the £27,000 she’d asked as down-payment for the £500,000 she wanted in return for access to Prince Andrew, a UK Representative for Trade and Investment.
“Sarah Ferguson says she’s yet to see the sting video of herself accepting $40,000 in exchange for access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew. But she knows where her mind was when it happened. ‘I haven’t faced the devil in the face because I was in the gutter at that moment,’ she tells Oprah Winfrey. ‘So I’m aware of the fact that I’ve been drinking, you know, that I was not in my right place’,” People says of the interview. Because of this, Oprah shows the Duchess the entire video that News of the World shot and then waits for more answers.
“The 50-year-old Duchess of York has previously said she was ‘devastated’ by the scandal. On the tape, she tells an undercover reporter, ‘I can open any door you want’ to Andrew, a British trade representative. The interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show airs Tuesday,” People further says of the interview. As per reports in the British media, Ferguson was not paid to appear on Oprah and returned to the UK shortly after filming it, on Friday. Since the scandal broke, she has also faced her ex, Prince Andrew, with whom she remained very close after separation but, so far, he’s not made any statement regarding it, save saying he had no idea of the kind of agreements the Duchess was making behind his back.
Below is the teaser for Oprah’s interview with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. For more on the full interview, make sure you keep an eye on this space.