Sarah Ferguson Keeps a Low Profile as She Awaits Family Joy Amid Ongoing Royal Scrutiny

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Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and Prince Andrew, Duke of York attend Katharine, Duchess of Kent's Requiem Mass service

Sarah Ferguson, with ex-Prince Andrew, in London, September 16, 2025.Credit : 

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

Sarah Ferguson is continuing to keep a low profile as she weighs her next steps amid renewed scrutiny over her past links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The former Duchess of York, 66, has largely stayed out of the public eye throughout 2026 and has not been photographed since a newspaper captured her in the Austrian mountains in April.

As she remains out of the spotlight, Ferguson is also preparing for a family milestone. Her daughter Princess Eugenie, 36, is expecting her third child this summer.

“Sarah is keeping a low profile. She’s staying in contact with her daughters and is awaiting the news of Eugenie’s baby,” a friend tells PEOPLE exclusively.

It’s understood Ferguson remains abroad and has yet to return to the U.K. as the investigation into her ex-husband, the former Prince Andrew, 66, continues following his arrest in February. After she and Andrew were told they would have to leave Royal Lodge in Windsor, she was said to be searching for a new place to call home. While that was expected to be somewhere near Windsor, she has not yet relocated.

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York (L) and Princess Eugenie attend The Miles Frost Fund party
Sarah Ferguson and her daughter Princess Eugenie in London, U.K. in 2017.David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

A source previously told PEOPLE that Ferguson “has never asked for a property or any provision for herself” and will continue to “forge an independent life.”

She had previously been spotted out in public when she was among family and friends at the christening of her granddaughter Athena, the second baby of her eldest daughter Princess Beatrice, in December 2025. That followed a two-month spell away from the cameras and public events after she had joined Andrew at the funeral service for the Duchess of Kent in London in September 2025.

The following month, King Charles stripped his brother Andrew of his titles and honors amid his continuing links to the Epstein scandal. He was subsequently ordered to leave Royal Lodge, where he and Ferguson had lived under the same roof for almost 20 years despite their divorce. Andrew is now living at a house on the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, about 100 miles north of London.

View of just-married couple Sarah, Duchess of York (center left), and Prince Andrew, Duke of York (center right), wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace,
Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew take in the admiration of the crowds on their wedding day July 23, 1986.Derek Hudson/Getty

Andrew became the first royal in modern history to be arrested back in February. The former Duke of York is accused of sharing confidential information with late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstei​​n during his time as a trade envoy for the U.K. He has not been charged.

Ferguson has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Princess Beatrice of York, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and Princess Eugenie of York attend The Anti Slavery Collective's inaugural Winter Gala
Princess Beatrice, Sarah Ferguson and Princess Eugenie at the Anti-Slavery Collective’s Winter Gala in London on November 29, 2023.Dave Benett/Getty for The Anti Slavery Collective

It is all a far cry from Fergie’s very public life up until then. The woman who managed to bounce back and remake herself after a royal divorce and scandals — like when she was caught on camera accepting cash in exchange for access to Andrew and the royal family — became a writer of romantic fiction and was regularly on TV and a podcast host.

That all came crashing down when her links to Epstein emerged among the millions of documents released by the Department of Justice.