Sarah Ferguson may have been married to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, but according to an author, he wasn’t the true “love of her life”.

Sarah Ferguson reportedly had a “whirlwind affair” with the “love of her life,” who she even allegedly introduced to her daughter, Princess Beatrice, and it wasn’t Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, a book has claimed. Fergie, as she is affectionately known, has had a tough few weeks following the latest revelations about her ex-husband’s relationship to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent axing of her and her former husband’s titles.

Sarah and Andrew divorced in 1996, but have maintained a close relationship and lived together at Royal Lodge until now. They are now being forced to move out, and while the former Duchess of York once claimed that she felt like “luckiest girl in the world” to be marrying a “handsome prince” on the eve of her royal wedding in July 1986, it wasn’t Andrew whom she fell “head over heels” for, a book has claimed.

The royal couple welcomed their first daughter, Princess Beatrice, in 1986 and their second daughter, Princess Eugenie, in 1990, but by then, cracks had allegedly begun to form in their marriage due to Andrew’s naval career, which left the ex-duchess feeling lonely.

Sarah Ferguson had a short-lived affair, claims an author. (Image: Getty)

The family of York on a skiing holiday in Verbier, Switzerland in 2001 (Image: Getty)

Steve Wyatt and his wife, Cate, at Fergie’s 40th birthday praty in 1999 (Image: King Steve)She told US TV host Ernie Manouse in 2010: “My deal was that I was marrying my man, who happened to be a prince and a naval officer. But what I got was not the man; I got the palace and didn’t get him. For our marriage, I saw him 40 days a year.”

The royal book claims it was loneliness that made Fergie fall in love with another man, whilst being pregnant and three years after marrying Andrew.

Author David Leigh claimed that sometime in 1989, Fergie met American Steve Wyatt at Houston Grand Opera’s British Opera Festival, and the two quickly became infatuated with each other.

He alleged in the 1996 book, Duchess of York: Uncensored, he co-wrote with Vasso Kortesis: “Steve Wyatt was the main reason for the breakdown of her marriage.

“She met him at a time of her life when she was exceptionally low and felt Andrew wasn’t supporting her. She went to Texas, and she met a very handsome and rich Texan who was very attentive and loving, and they very quickly fell in love. Andrew may have been her best friend, and he probably still is now and probably always will be, but Steve Wyatt was the love life of her life.”

Their romance reportedly generated headlines, and there were even pictures of her with Steve and her daughter, Beatrice, in January 1992, which sparked furore.

In March 1992, Fergie and Andrew announced their separation, with the couple finalising their divorce in 1996.

In August of the same year, the toe-sucking scandal emerged when the ex-duchess was pictured having her toes sucked by her US financial adviser, and reportedly one of Steve’s close pals, John Bryan, in France.

But her alleged affair with Steve Wyatt ended up falling flat after she discovered that he had become engaged to Cate Magennis.

She reportedly confided to a friend: “‘I can’t have the man I love because he’s getting married. What’s the matter with me? Why didn’t he marry me?”

Ms Ferguson had never commented publicly about the alleged affair.