Sarah Ferguson ‘doesn’t know’ how King Charles is coping ahead of coronation

Exclusive: Duchess of York’s remarks come amid reports of ‘fraught’ relations between King Charles and Prince Harry

Sarah Ferguson has admitted she doesn’t know how King Charles III is coping with his new role as monarch.

In an interview with The Independent, published on Wednesday 5 April, the Duchess of York, 63, shared her thoughts on King Charles’s reign.

“I don’t know how he’s managing. I really don’t,” she said, addressing Charles’s workload ahead of the coronation on 6 May.

“We used to go skiing together,” she said. “And I honestly have no idea how he’s managing with the amount of paperwork and all the overwhelming things he must have to deal with.”

Her comments come after King Charles reportedly asked Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle to vacate their property at Frogmore Cottage and offered it to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, instead.

Charles’s relationship with the Duke of Sussex is believed to be fraught following the publication of Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare, which was released in January.

Royal commentators have previously told The Independent that Charles’s decision over Frogmore Cottage is a likely to be a direct reaction to Harry’s memoir.

Sarah has previously addressed reports that Andrew has been offered the keys to Harry and Meghan’s former home, Frogmore Cottage.

The disgraced Duke of York has resided in the Royal Lodge in Windsor Park for nearly 20 years, but reports suggest his time there may be coming to an end and that his brother, King Charles, may cut his £249,000 annual allowance.

The duchess has been promoting her latest book, A Most Intriguing Lady , a historical romance whodunit about her ancestor Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott (Getty Images)

Prince Andrew first moved into the vast property in 2004 and made it his family home. He lives there with the duchess, with whom he has remained close since their divorce in 1992.

Speaking to Hello! on Sunday (5 March), the duchess addressed the reports that Andrew may have his annual allowance taken away.

Sources said that the King vowed not to leave his younger brother “homeless or penniless”.

“This is really a matter for the Duke and His Majesty,” she said of the reports, before adding that Andrew “doesn’t actually take taxpayers’ money” since he stepped back from royal duties.

Andrew stepped down as a working royal over his association with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Last year, he reached a multi-million-pound settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her while she was underage. Andrew vehemently denies the allegations.

Sarah has said that she is “pleased and proud” to be in the “position” to “support [Andrew] and the rest of the family through my work”.

The duchess has been promoting her latest book, A Most Intriguing Lady, a historical romance whodunit about Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott, a real-life Victorian ancestor of the Duchess and the younger sister of the protagonist of her novel.

“I have an absolutely extraordinary curiosity for life like Lady Mary. That’s why she is a sleuth of society crimes,” the duchess said of her protagonist.