How Andrew and Sarah Ferguson got royal staff ‘up in arms’

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A former butler to Britain’s royal family and longtime confidant of the late Princess Diana has revealed how Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson‘s behavior during their early married life sparked frustration behind the scenes, leaving palace staff incensed.

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According to Paul Burrell, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson’s behavior early in their marriage, long before they lost their titles amid scrutiny over their ties to convicted predator Jeffrey Epstein, created friction with palace staff. In his 2025 memoir, The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana, Burrell — who was a footman to the late Queen Elizabeth II before working as a butler to King Charles III during the monarch’s days as Prince of Wales and served Princess Diana until her death — claimed the former Prince Andrew was “besotted” with his bride, who in his eyes could “do no wrong.”

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But behind the scenes, former royal butler Paul Burrell wrote that frustration was quickly brewing among Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson’s servants following their 1986 wedding. “The staff were up in arms early in the marriage,” Burrell wrote in his 2025 memoir, as reported by The Mirror. “From the beginning, the royal newlyweds refused to leave their marital bed.”

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson’s habit of staying in bed disrupted the daily routine for their staff, former royal butler Paul Burrell explained. “The maids weren’t allowed to go into the bedroom to make the bed for days,” he wrote. “When the couple did surface, they held lavish dinner, lunch and tea parties with all their friends.”

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It was exhausting for palace employees. “The kitchen staff were run off their feet,” ex-royal butler Paul Burrell wrote in his 2025 book, explaining that even Queen Elizabeth II “didn’t entertain so extravagantly. The royal chefs were furious to be making food [for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson] like it was an à la carte restaurant.” Tensions escalated. “They were used to serving food to the queen and the royal family at set times. It was too much,” Burrell explained. “The staff rebelled and protests were made to the master of the household, who informed the queen of her staff’s unhappiness.”

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According to former palace butler Paul Burrell, an unhappy Queen Elizabeth II stepped in to mitigate the drama Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson were causing. “She had to intervene and put a stop to the lavish gluttony,” Burrell wrote, noting the late monarch “despised waste” and planned meals carefully, “deciding in advance which food should be cooked for her each day,” unlike the former Duke and Duchess of York. The way the queen saw it, Burrell added, “Why should Andrew and Fergie be different?”

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Beyond the former royal couple’s lifestyle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor himself was a challenge to deal with, Paul Burrell alleged, claiming the disgraced former Prince Andrew — who amicably divorced Sarah Ferguson in 1996 — was “never easy” to get along with.