Queen Elizabeth II 'Secretly Rooting For' Sarah Ferguson, Royal Biographer Says

Sarah Ferguson and Queen Elizabeth II have maintained a good relationship after the former left the royal family.

According to biographer Allan Starkie in "Fergie Downfall of the Duchess" documentary, the Duchess of York had the monarch's support after her split from Prince Andrew. In fact, they continued to see each other.

"The Duchess used to go over and see the Queen on Sundays with her children very often, and she’d come back with varying degrees of enthusiasm [over] the support she was being promised," Starkie said (as quoted by Express).

"At one point, the Queen invited the Duchess to come for the Christmas holidays, but to stay in a farmhouse," he added. "She wanted to see her grandchildren. She told the Duchess 'If you come, maybe we can meet secretly and at least I can see my grandchildren for Christmas.'"

Due to the Queen's effort to see Ferguson secretly, the latter felt that she had the monarch's sympathy. "The Duchess began to get the feeling that perhaps the Queen was almost a prisoner in her own family, secretly rooting for Fergie."

Her Majesty and Ferguson had a warm reunion at the Royal Box during the fourth day of the Royal Ascot in June. The Duchess of York was photographed giving a curtsy to the monarch. They were also seen smiling and chatting with each other.

While the Queen and Ferguson are amicable, the Duke of Edinburgh has reportedly not forgiven her for her toegate scandal. They were avoiding each other but agreed to bury the hatchet for Princess Eugenie's royal wedding. During the event, they appeared friendly.

In a recent interview, Ferguson spoke about her reunion with Prince Philip. According to her, she was very pleased that they were both present at Jack Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie's official wedding photos.

"I have huge respect for him and always admired him. It was a lovely photograph of us all together," Ferguson said. "It was very good to be with him again. My father and he used to play polo together. It brought back memories of that."

On the other hand, Ferguson and Queen Elizabeth II were already on good terms even before Princess Eugenie's royal wedding. In fact, the monarch praised Prince Andrew's ex-wife.

"Her Majesty thinks Sarah has raised two lovely daughters and is very fond of both of them and looking forward to Eugenie's wedding, which they obviously chatted about at the party," an insider told royal correspondent Camilla Tominey. "The Queen always tries to see the best in people and she has stayed in close touch, even having tea with her regularly at Windsor."