Sarah Ferguson has always stuck by her ex-husband’s side, which her friend thinks has contributed to her downfall.

Sarah Ferguson has always stuck by her ex husband’s side (Image: Indigo/Getty Images)

Sarah Ferguson’s “loyalty” to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has a part to play in her recent royal downfall, a friend of the former duchess has said. Over recent weeks, Sarah has kept a low profile after it emerged that she had emailed the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 after he had been released from prison for child sex offences.

In the email, Sarah apologised to her “supreme friend” for criticising him in a media interview. A spokesperson for Sarah, 66, has since said she only sent the email as she feared Epstein would sue her for defamation.

While this scandal has shadowed Sarah’s public image, her friend also believes that her continued friendship with her ex husband Andrew, formerly Prince Andrew, is part of her recent downfall.

This is because Andrew has also faced various scandals surrounding his previous friendship with Epstein over the years, alongside accusations – which he has denied.

Although Sarah is believed to no longer be sticking by her ex husband’s side anymore, with Andrew losing his royal titles and even his Royal Lodge home, the fact she has been loyal to him for so long has “cost her”, Sarah’s friend has said.

This is because while she has made her own mistakes, she has continued to co-habit with Andrew at Royal Lodge despite the fact he has had scandal after scandal, which has now damaged the monarchy.

Speaking on Channel 5’s show Vanessa on Friday, Sarah’s friend Lizzie Cundy said: “I’m afraid Sarah’s biggest mistake was her loyalty to Andrew, because that mud has stuck on her.”

Sarah Ferguson and Andrew are not set to live together anymore (Image: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)

She continued: “Sadly because of her lack of judgement and her underlying loyalty to Andrew, it’s really cost her. She can’t be linked with Andrew unfortunately.”

Sarah, like Andrew, has also lost the royal title she held and is no longer able to call herself Duchess of York.

While Andrew is being moved from Royal Lodge in Windsor and instead housed in a property on King Charles’ private Sandringham estate, Sarah is not going with him.

Instead it is believed she will be making her own housing arrangements away from her ex-husband, who she divorced in 1996 but remained good friends with.