It had been barely a week since my Anglotopia article detailing Fergie’s financial woes when a video cropped up all over the internet showing the Duchess making a dirty deal – shaking hands with a ‘businessman’ looking to gain favor with Prince Andrew and cash in on royal connections.

Some could say that Sarah did the right thing by moving in with Andrew and their daughters to live as a united family, regardless of finances. I was far more suspicious about such an arrangement, and as it turns out, I had every right to be. Sarah has been living with the Duke of York and their two girls, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, because she cannot afford her own home. The money she does have gets spent immediately on chauffers, security, and first-class everything. It won’t last long – the Duchess’s sources of income are drying up rapidly.

Sarah’s New York-based wellness company Hartmoor died out with debts of over £600,000 last year, and Sarah herself has unpaid bills amounting to almost £200,000 from book and movie deals that fell through. She doesn’t even own a home; instead, Sarah lives with her ex-husband and their daughters.

These financial dire straits led the Duchess to sell out the Duke himself, telling an undercover reporter posing as a businessman: “I can open any door for you,” and promising the ‘businessman’ personal access to the Prince in exchange for money, says the Telegraph.

The situation is reminiscent of Sophie, Countess of Wessex’s embarrassment when she made amusing remarks about various government officials, including royal family members. The Countess also mentioned that being a client of her public relations company could get people extra attention.

“The chances are you’ll get people interested: ‘Oh gosh, they’ve employed the Countess of Wessex’s PR company,’” Sophie told the faux sheik.

But while Sophie was naive in a bit of gossip, Sarah’s situation is more dire. Her willingness to give up private information on her ex-husband means that she could potentially reveal things about other Royal Family members that could lead to a security problem.

The Queen is sure to be severely disappointed. It was reported in Autumn 2008 that Sarah had vacationed with the Royals at Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish retreat. It looked as though she was back in the family’s good graces. It had taken some time – the last holiday at Balmoral for Sarah had been in 1992 when she was banished for being captured on film having her toes sucked by John Bryan, her “financial adviser”.

Does this mean the end of the Duchess of York title for Sarah Ferguson? After this, I should certainly hope so.

Kids or Cash-Cows?

[UPDATE] In the Guardian, James Whitaker blames the Queen for giving Sarah a relatively small sum in her divorce from Prince Andrew. In fact, a few people have laid blame at Her Majesty’s feet. One commenter wrote: “Fergie was treated shabbily by the royals in the divorce settlement. She is the mother of the queen’s grandchildren”. But think of this: if your daughter-in-law had just spent you under the table, and had continued to behave in such a manner, would you be willing to give her even more money to blow annually? Giving her more is not the answer. If anything, the Queen should’ve forbidden Sarah’s use of “Duchess of York” and hired a scrupulous accountant for her instead. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have a trust, so they don’t have to worry. Well, now that Sarah’s blown through it all, I guess they do. D’oh!