Since her 1996 divorce from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Sarah Ferguson has conjured a whole range of business deals to try – but mostly fail – to keep her in the lifestyle she desires. At one stage Fergie was piling on the pounds (sterling) with a reported £1m-a-year deal with Weight Watchers, while she also penned children’s books – like Budgie the Little Helicopter.
Fergie was a “brand ambassador” for Pegasus Group Holdings, a failed solar-powered crypto mining firm, earning over £200,000, and in 2009 her lifestyle and wellness firm Hartmoor collapsed while over £630,000 in debt.
Then in 2010, the infamous ‘Cash-for-Access Scandal’ followed when she was filmed accepting £15,000 to facilitate access to ‘Prince’ Andrew.
Some claim Fergie was the first modern royal to aggressively “monetise” her title after stepping back from duties – but now with Meghan we could have ‘Fergie 2.0’.
Fergie once appeared on instantly forgettable reality shows like a horse-dancing competition show called Dancing with Horses and her own mini-series Finding Sarah: From Royalty to the Real World (2011).
Similarly, Meghan has already had her own, now cancelled, lifestyle show ‘With Love, Meghan’ on Netflix and while down in Australia she has appeared on MasterChef to promote her brands.
Fergie has her ‘The Duchess Collection’ lifestyle brand with tea and biscuits – while Meghan has her ‘As Ever’ firm churning out fruit spreads, honey, tea and scented candles.
The blatant money-wrenching from their Australia tour has already rankled the Aussies. This week the Sydney Morning Herald said: “Australia was good to Harry and Meghan. Now they want to use us as an ATM.”
Australian business leader Hilary Fordwich bemoaned the Sussexes for using their royal links “to make money” for themselves.
But all this is straight out of the Fergie playbook, so expect more lucrative tours across the globe, dropping in on primetime TV shows and flogging their wares.
There was a time when Harry and Meghan were lecturing the world over kindness, prejudice and the danger of powerful institutions.
Now they are ‘blending’ their royal links into charity work and serious money-making. Fergie would be impressed.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
