Sarah Ferguson has sold her £4.2million London townhouse just three years after purchasing it as an investment property.
The Duchess of York had been renting out the two-bedroom property in Belgravia to a private tenant for an estimated £4,000 a week in recent months.
Sarah bought the property in June 2022 in her own name, but her daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were also listed on Land Registry paperwork.
New documents show a pending application for its sale after a deal was struck over the summer, although it is not clear how much the 65-year-old Duchess has made.
The funds to purchase the Georgian property are said to have come from money inherited by Beatrice and Eugenie from the Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
Sarah’s spokesman James Henderson said the Duchess ‘wasn’t looking to sell it’ but she ‘was asked by the tenant to buy it and it seemed like a good time to sell’.
The home was previously owned by Sebastian Macdonald-Hall, the party-loving DJ son of property magnate Caspar Macdonald-Hall with a family fortune of £950million.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York alongside other Royal Family members at the funeral for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral on September 16
Sarah, Duchess of York bought the two-bedroom property in London’s Belgravia in 2022
A living room in the Belgravia property with a horizontal skylight and chandelier above
Her spokesman told The Times: ‘It’s an investment property for her girls and so the monies will be reinvested accordingly.’
Sarah and her ex-husband Prince Andrew still live together in Windsor at the 30-room Royal Lodge, a 19th-century Grade II-listed mansion with 90 acres of land.
The Windsor property has a £400,000-a-year bill needed for its upkeep – and Andrew’s brother King Charles III is said to have been trying to get them to move out.
But the funds from a sale of the Belgravia property could be significant enough to help keep Sarah and Andrew in residence at Royal Lodge.
News of the sale comes after several charities severed ties with Sarah on Monday after it emerged she apologised to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein in April 2011 and called him a ‘supreme friend’ in an email after publicly disowning him in the media.
Among the organisations to end their relationship with Sarah after the email came to light was the Teenage Cancer Trust, which dropped her as patron after 35 years.
Similar announcements came from Wiltshire and Dorset-based children’s hospice Julia’s House, Prevent Breast Cancer, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation and the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals.
The British Heart Foundation also said Sarah was no longer a serving ambassador for the charity. Julia’s House said it would be ‘inappropriate for her to continue as a patron of the charity’ – citing her correspondence with Epstein as a deciding factor.
Meanwhile founders of food allergy charity The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation said they were ‘disturbed’ to read her correspondence with him. Sarah also resigned from the Youth Impact Council, a US-based charity that helps young people.
Sarah sent the apology email to Epstein after he threatened to ‘destroy’ her family in a ‘chilling call’, it was claimed.
The Duchess sent the message in April 2011, describing Epstein as a ‘supreme friend’, after publicly disowning him in the media.
James Henderson, the Duchess’s spokesperson at the time, said the email was sent after a ‘really menacing and nasty’ phone call from the sex offender who had a ‘Hannibal Lecter-type voice’.
Mr Henderson said: ‘People don’t understand how terrible Epstein was. I can remember everything about that call.
‘It was a chilling call and I’m surprised anybody was ever friends with him given the way he talked to me.
‘He said he would destroy the York family and he was quite clear on that. He said he would destroy me. He wasn’t shouting.
‘He had a Hannibal Lecter-type voice. It was very cold and calm and really menacing and nasty.’
He continued: ‘The pressure she was put under to protect her family must have been huge. I am sure there were legal actions.
‘And this was long before the Duke’s life had been ruined by his association with Epstein. It was 14 years ago and everyone will do what they have to do to protect their family. Her family and children will always come first for her.’
The phone call reportedly took place in the wake of the duchess’s interview with the Evening Standard on March 7 2011, in which she apologised for accepting £15,000 from Epstein.
During the interview, Sarah told the newspaper: ‘I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say.
‘Whenever I can, I will repay the money and have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.’
A little over a month later, the Duchess sent a message to Epstein, reported by The Mail on Sunday, in which she said: ‘I know you feel hellaciously let down by me.
‘And I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that. You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.’
It continued: ‘I was advised in no uncertain terms, to have nothing to do with you and to not speak or email you. And if I did – I would cause more problems to you, the duke and myself. I was broken and lost.
‘So please understand. I didn’t want to hurt Andrew one more time. I was in over-riding fear. I am sorry.’
A reception room with a cast-iron fireplace, large window and two floor to ceiling bookcases
One of the bathrooms at the Belgravia property which also benefits from a private roof terrace
The open plan kitchen features a black marble island and worktops with a skylight window
Following the announcements by the charities on Monday, family members of Virginia Giuffre praised their ‘decisive action’ by cutting ties with Sarah.
Ms Giuffre, who died in Western Australia in April aged 41, was one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offenders Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
In 2022, she settled lawsuit against Andrew for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein. He denied the claim and ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
American-born Ms Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, and her sister-in-law Amanda Roberts, said in a statement: ‘It is commendable that these seven charities have cut ties with Sarah Ferguson in light of her connections to Epstein.
‘This decisive action sends a strong message about accountability and the need to confront those who support the horrific child trafficking network established by Epstein and Maxwell.’
They added: ‘It raises important questions about our own efforts in America. Are we doing enough to condemn those complicit in these crimes?
Sarah and Andrew still live together in Windsor at the 19th-century, 30-room Royal Lodge
Royal Lodge is a 19th-century Grade II-listed mansion in Windsor with 90 acres of land
‘We should follow the example set by these organisations and take meaningful steps to protect the vulnerable and uphold justice.’
Ms Giuffre was ‘systematically failed by nearly every powerful institution that was meant to protect her’, they said, before commending the ‘forceful response’ from the charities.
They added: ‘In absence of governmental accountability, we urgently need stronger public condemnation of the men and women involved in propping up Epstein’s horrific child sex trafficking network here in America to begin pursuing real justice.’
Andrew paid millions to settle the civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre in 2022, who alleged the duke slept with her on three separate occasions.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.