Palace in meltdown after Sarah Ferguson makes shocking demands of King Charles

Her latest move could be Sarah Ferguson’s most shocking yet – but could Prince William put his foot down once and for all?

It’s now been a month since Sarah Ferguson’s whereabouts were revealed, with the so-called disappearing Duchess photographed emerging from an exclusive £2000-a-night chalet in the Austrian mountains – four months after she was last seen in the UK.

A source recently told us how Sarah, 66, has been taking advantage of the nearby, ultra-exclusive Mayrlife Medical Health Resort, enjoying spa treatments, the occasional foray onto the ski slopes and relaxing with glasses of champagne.

But after the British public had asked why Sarah wasn’t ‘slumming it in shame’, speculation over how she was going to afford her continued lavish lifestyle reached its peak.

Reports revealed how US streaming bosses, as well as several British producers, have expressed an interest in a TV tell-all about her life, with one American bid said to be worth £1.3 million. And having married her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in 1986, Sarah has had behind-the-scenes access to the private lives of the royals for four decades.

However, after it was widely reported that the renowned bounceback Queen had perhaps run out of bounce, and had been telling friends that she ‘needs cash’, it has now been sensationally claimed that Sarah could be negotiating a pension deal with King Charles, who could be keen to placate any desire, or need, for his former sister-in-law to air the whole royal laundry basket to the world.

Andrew Lownie, author of ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’, speculated last week, ‘That may be what Fergie’s negotiating at the moment. Can she get a nice pension from them and not have to do an Oprah interview?’

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Meanwhile, we’re told that this latest bombshell has, unsurprisingly, caused upheaval behind palace walls, with a source revealing how Prince William in particular, has been left ‘fuming’ that his father is even contemplating the idea.

An insider says, ‘It’s left everyone stunned; they can’t believe Charles is even considering this. William is fuming and saying Sarah will only see this as a green light to get lifelong handouts. Because that’s what this is, as far as William and a lot of other people are concerned.

‘William understands that Charles wants to protect them from more embarrassment, but he doesn’t believe that Sarah will stick to her word and he predicts endless demands after this.’

They add, ‘Charles hasn’t made any promises to Sarah but allowing her to skate away with no consequences and essentially give her a bail out, is going to be viewed very poorly by the public and William is desperately trying to steer his father away from letting the Yorks and their alleged behaviour further damage the monarchy and their family’s legacy.’

It’s now been eight months since Sarah was forced to begin her onslaught of public grovelling last September after being caught red handed when a shocking email between her and the now-deceased convicted sex trafficker and paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, was made public.

In the exchange, sent in April 2011, a month after she had denounced their friendship in a public statement; in which she said she ‘abhor[s] paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children’, Sarah refers to sex trafficker Epstein as a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’. It later emerged that Epstein had given her £15,000 the previous year to help pay off her debts.

The fallout was monumental, with one royal commentator summarising, ‘Her lucrative children’s book career is in tatters. Her career as a romantic novelist is also dead and buried. No respectable charity will touch her with a barge pole – the door to redemption through good works has been slammed in her face.’

But the scandal only deepened earlier this year when further emails were released. In one interaction she allegedly describes Epstein as ‘being the brother I have always wished for’ while in another she writes, ‘You are a legend. I really don’t have the words to describe, my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness…I am at your service. Just marry me.’

However, with Sarah now in hiding and reportedly struggling to fund her lifestyle, it’s clear that she may have become something of a ticking time bomb for the Royal Family.

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Earlier this year, it was widely reported that she had also reached out to US publishers in the hope of selling the rights to an explosive tell all memoir for around £2 million. Now the source says that with her options seemingly shrinking, Sarah is keen to negotiate with the King on a deal that she feels could benefit them both.

‘She’s been bragging everywhere about her book deal and how much dirt she has to spill on the family and at the same time she’s been telling anyone who will listen how desperate her financial position is,’ the insider says.

‘She hasn’t said give me money or I’ll expose you with my book but the message is clear – if Charles helps her out she won’t be forced to lay all the secrets bare.’

Meanwhile, after it was reported that William, 43, had wanted to oust his disgraced uncle from the royal fold long before Charles, 77, was all but forced to, the source says even the thought that the Yorks could be set to bring more shame upon the Firm is ‘triggering’.

The insider says, ‘It’s especially triggering for William because he spent so long, literally years, trying to push Charles to get tough with Andrew and his father didn’t take his guidance and it ended up costing the monarchy dearly.

‘And now he could be gearing up to make the same mistake all over again with Sarah, or at least that’s how William sees it and he’s convinced he’s in the right.’

Meanwhile the source says Charles is ‘not one to be told what to do, and certainly not by his own son’, as we’re told the monarch believes any ‘hardline’ stance could only cause further damage.

They tell us, ‘Sarah is financially desperate and she’s shopping around a sensationalized tell-all. So while ignoring that reality and simply taking a hardline stance might seem like the best way on the surface, Charles is arguing that it could end up backfiring spectacularly.

‘In his view, the smarter move is to keep communication open and try to manage things quietly rather than provoke an all-out war with someone who knows decades worth of private family secrets. He’s insisting that any arrangement with Sarah would come with extremely strict conditions attached and formal confidentiality agreements in place.’

Now, with neither Charles nor William shifting on their opinions over what action to take next, the source says William fears any sign that the Royal Family are negotiating with Sarah could set a ‘dangerous precedent’ for the future.

‘As far as William is concerned, none of that matters. In his view, the monarchy should never be negotiating under pressure,’ we’re told.

‘He feels once the palace starts rewarding this type of behaviour it sets an incredibly dangerous precedent and could send the message that threatening the family publicly is an effective way to get what you want. He says all Charles would be doing with this agreement is delaying the disaster.’

SOURCE: Palace in meltdown after Fergie makes demands of King Charles