THE WEDDING, THE HONEYMOON, THE REALIZATION THAT THE MARRIAGE ISN'T WORKING

Wedding gifts had come in from around the world and were stored in the Buckingham Palace ballroom.  When Sarah and Andrew married there were 1,800 guess in Westminster Abbey. Her parents had united to throw a dinner dance for the couple.  Sarah Ferguson, called Fergie in the media, wore a coronet of gardenias - his favorite flower - in her hair and a ivory dress that she'd lost twenty-six pounds to fit into by eating mostly meat and oranges. It had a seventeen foot rain. Horses pulled The Glass Coach, she and her father inside, waving to the crows.  A million people lined the one mile route. Sarah Ferguson's new title was Princess Andrew and Duchess of York, as well as Countess of Inverness and Baroness of Killyleagh.  She now outranked Princess Margaret, The Queens's sister, and Princess Anne, The Queen's daughter. Once the marriage books were signed, her flowery coronet was replaced with a diamond tiara .

On the HMS Britannia, the Royal Yacht, with a crew of 276 yet, there was just the two of them aboard. But on the way back from Portugal other members of the Royal Family were let on.  From this point on privacy and time together would be at a minimum.

Within days upon the return home Andrew received an assignment a hundred fifty miles from London.  As a navel wife she could not expect him to be home much.  He would be home on the average forty-two days a years.

Sarah was left to just get on with it.  She felt isolated and full of self doubt.  And she was expected to do royal engagements to represent her new, Royal, family.

Page 115 : "I now shared Andrew's  private secretary, who coordinated our public lives, and his equerry, the number two man, an officer of secondment from the military.  But I worked most directly with my lady-in-waiting, my personal secretary, my dresser, and a lady clerk or two.  Also at my service were two protection officers, the household valet, my chauffeur, and various Palace Butlers and footmen...

Page 116: "I would ultimately collect 15 fluffy formal ball gowns, for state affairs and top-tier dinners; another 25 long dressed for slightly less formal occasions; 40 cocktail dresses; 150 day suits; 60 hats and 200 pairs of shoes.  .... 

Sarah had to change clothes three or four times a day and get quick about it.  Everything, from wardrobe, to food from the kitchen for dinner the next day had to be determined at least the day before.  The was no kitchen in the apartment, no food if she got a midnight urge to eat.

Socially she went everywhere. Sarah soon got her confidence about meeting people and speaking in public, but she felt lonely and alienated. 

Celebrated in the press, Sarah also felt the challenge personally. She attempted to participate in every sport, even if she performed badly.  She wanted to be a 'sport." In her effort to please she decided she would learn to fly a helicopter, just as her husband, Prince Andrew, did. First she learned to fly small fixed winged planes.  Then in 1987 she got her helicopter license.  Would it never be enough? When Sarah went on a rugged expedition in Canada's Northwest Territory that included a two week canoe trip, she wondered what would be. She wanted to spend more time with her husband.

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Through all this she also experienced pregnancy twice.  By the time she had their first child, Beatrice, Sarah sensed the marriage was in trouble and that the connection she had with Andrew was weakening. She was not given the permission to be a typical navy wife and live near whatever station he was assigned to.  She followed him on a trip to Australia, leaving the baby at home to be cared for by others, and was accused of being a bad mother. People were also tired of Fergie and her hijinks.  Princess Diana's popularity went up while hers went down. That should have been a bit of relief.

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Page 166 : ... "Less than three years into my marriage, as the monarchy teetered in a new and uncertain time, The Firm would have its scapegoat, its maiden for the pyre.  Always considerate, she had brought her own matches and kindling.... She would be cooked to order."

Page 169 : "The reality was something else.  For I had married the second son, and that made all the difference.  While Andrew received a moderate sum from the Civil List, it went for the cost of official engagements and for staff and office expenses.  As for my husband's personal income, the Royal Navy might provide free room and board and a chance to see the world, but it was no place to make one's fortune. In all our years together, Andrew's income never exceeded $50.000.

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Sarah went on to detail how she - and Andrew - came to be terribly in debt, partly it was generosity to staff, but also a shopping habit, with much concern about the right clothes, after being considered overly bowed and dumpy in the late 1980's.

Not given enough to pay the bills and told that as a royal she could not work, Sarah rebelled and made a first attempt to earn money. She turned her helicopter piloting experience into to children's books. Budgie the Little Helicopter and Budgie at Bendicks Point came out in 1989. Over time Sarah, Duchess of York earned about half a million dollars from these books.

But as for the marriage, it was not working.

Sarah told Queen Elisabeth and Prince Phillip that she could not cope with the separations from Andrew. Prince Phillip was especially unkind.

Page 175: "And so Andrew and I carried on in our two distant worlds. By 1989 we were sharing less and less, till we lost the stitch of fabric we'd been weaving together..."

Excerpts chosen by me - Missy

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