Sarah Ferguson says being married to Prince Andrew was ‘happiest’ time in her life

The Duchess of York says she still supports her ex-husband ‘100 per cent’ following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal

Sarah Ferguson still lives with Prince Andrew 25 years after they divorced (Getty Images)

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, has said she was the “luckiest girl in the world” when she married Prince Andrew in 1986.

Appearing on Italian chat show, Porta a Porta, to promote her new novel, Her Heart for a Compass, the Duchess of York was asked about the happiest time in her life.

She replied: “23 July 1986, when I married the best man in the world.”

Ferguson, or Fergie, was married to Prince Andrew for a decade, between 1986 and 1996. The pair continue to live together in Windsor 25 years after their divorce.

Fergie added: “I believe that the love I have for him and he has for me is just very different from what normal people have. We have great respect and love for each other. It really is our own fairytale and it’s our own lives, how we like to be, with total respect and honour to each other.”

When asked about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, and the allegations against Prince Andrew, who has been accused of sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre, Fergie says she “stands by him 100 per cent”.

Giuffre alleges that she and Andrew had sex on three occasions in 2001 - when he was 30 and she was 17.

She says this happened in the London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell who is currently on trial in the US for sex trafficking.

Andrew has consistently denied these claims and his lawyers want the case to be dismissed.

Earlier this month, Fergie told French Magazine Madame Figaro: “The happiest day of my life remains 23 July, 1986, that moment when I came to the end of the endless alleyway of Westminster Abbey alongside my sailor, my prince, my husband.”

The Duchess added that she “still loves” Prince Andrew today. “I will stay by his side, because I believe in him, he is a good man.”