Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Arrested at Sandringham — But What Now for Sarah Ferguson?

As investigators search properties in Berkshire and Norfolk, attention has also turned to the former Duke of York's ex-wife, who has not appeared publicly since September 25, 2025, and whose fortunes have long been entwined with her ex-husband's.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested at Sandringham on February 19, 2026, and taken into police custody on suspicion of misconduct in public office — a development that immediately plunged the monarchy into fresh turmoil and raised a pointed secondary question: where is Sarah Ferguson?

While unmarked police vehicles were seen arriving at Wood Farm on the Norfolk estate, where Andrew had been staying temporarily, Sarah was conspicuously absent from view.

In fact, the former Duchess of York has not been seen publicly since September 25, 2025, when she was photographed being driven out of Royal Lodge.

In the months since, her disappearance from public life has only sharpened the sense that the latest crisis is unfolding with one half of the disgraced former couple in the glare and the other in the shadows.

Police confirmed that searches were taking place at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk, as the investigation moved quickly beyond the site of the arrest. Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said:

"Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office. It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence."

The arrest was also laden with symbolism. Andrew, eighth in line to the throne, turned 66 on the day police attended the estate. It was, by all accounts, the first time in modern history that a senior member of the British Royal Family had been arrested.

Yet for Sarah, the moment carried a different kind of peril. For years, she remained closely tethered to Andrew's fortunes, despite divorce and relentless public condemnation.

Even after their split more than three decades ago, the pair continued living together until recently. They maintained an oddly domestic arrangement, with Sarah once framing them as the happiest divorced couple in the world.

That proximity, once presented as quirky resilience, has now become part of the story's menace — when the consequences finally arrived, distance suddenly looked like survival.

Sarah and Andrew left Royal Lodge last month, after intensifying scrutiny over their connection to convicted sex offender and late American financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has consistently and vehemently denied wrongdoing.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams argued that the outlook for Sarah was bleak and that more could follow.

But the scandal has never been confined to him alone, and fresh attention has been drawn to Sarah's own conduct and communications.

Emails between her and Jeffrey were described as showing repeated attempts to secure money to help settle debts, along with requests for practical support across a significant period.

They also contained evidence that she remained in contact with the American financier after his release from prison for sex offences — including taking her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to lunch with him five days after his release.

The same tranche of reporting said Sarah privately apologised to Jeffrey for publicly denouncing him, claiming she had done so only to protect her career as a children's author. In her message, she described him as a "steadfast, generous and supreme friend."

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams argued that the outlook for Sarah was bleak and that more could follow. "Sarah Ferguson has no future at all," he claimed, adding:

"She's shamed and her businesses are closed down, and certainly no charity would touch her and a great deal more will come out. We're not at the end. A little quiet and humility would be a good idea but it's not in her temperament."

On Andrew's arrest, the royal commentator remarked, "It is an unprecedented crisis, particularly because it has been allowed to go on for so long. It will cause enormous concern at the Palace."

Against that backdrop, Sarah's absence has become its own form of evidence. One account claimed that, before Andrew was ejected from Royal Lodge, she avoided being seen by slipping in and out by car while lying down on the back seat.

Meanwhile, speculation about her location has ranged widely. It was claimed she visited the French Alps with friends and then reports became so fevered that Virgin Group publicly denied assertions she had taken refuge on Richard Branson's Necker Island.

Another strand of reporting placed her in the Middle East, spending time with Princess Eugenie, who was in the region for work, including attending an art fair in Doha, Qatar.

Royal author Andrew Lownie framed the Middle East as a place where reputational collapse in Britain might matter less, arguing, "In Britain, neither Sarah or Andrew will be socially accepted again — whatever they try to do or wherever they go."

"But in the Middle East, no one will care about what they have got up to. There are people there — royalty, politicians, and business types — whom Sarah can quite happily sponge off and who will be happy to bankroll both of them," he added.

However, even within that argument, the future he described did not necessarily include Andrew. A source claimed Sarah had been telling friends, "I need to get back to work. I need money." The same source said she also declared, "When I come back, I am going to have to put some distance between myself and Andrew."

If that is the direction she is pursuing, it suggests a shift from defiance to triage. The royal author also cast doubt on the idea that Sarah would attach herself to Andrew's retreat in Sandringham, reporting:

"I think she wouldn't want to go to Sandringham and be linked to old misery guts."

Elsewhere, the question of family support has also been complicated. Reports indicated that neither Princess Eugenie nor Princess Beatrice was playing host to their mother, despite speculation that either the Portugal home linked to Princess Eugenie or Princess Beatrice's Cotswolds annexe might be options.

"I talked to a member of staff the other day, and Eugenie has cut loose," the royal author claimed. "The girls clearly want to keep in with the Royal Family, partly that's where their future lies, and their commercial prospects lie."

Princess Beatrice, meanwhile, was recently spotted taking her daughter, Sienna, for a horseback ride with Andrew — a detail that, fairly or not, has been read as evidence that the sisters' public approaches may not match.

As for the court of public opinion, online reaction to the arrest and Sarah's disappearance was swift, with commenters treating the moment as a reckoning. One person wrote, "It's all coming to light now!"

Another said, "Give it up, Sarah. The gravy train has come to an end. Make your own way in the world, like the rest of us do. Don't come to America, we don't want you. Harry & Megs being here are enough." A third netizen commented, "She has no morals nothing but a lowlife."

Others urged retreat, with one writing, "She would be doing herself a favor by just not being seen publicly. At the very least for her daughters ---> because everything she has ever said publicly or done publicly? Will be coming out and replayed over and over again."

Another added, "She should stay very, very low and keep very, very quiet for ever [sic]!" while a final netizen concluded, "I can see where they went wrong, they got caught!"

For now, the confirmed facts centre on Andrew — the arrest, the allegation, the investigation, and searches underway in two counties. But the parallel story is the one the public cannot see — Sarah Ferguson's whereabouts, her calculation, and whether her next move will be silence, flight, or a re-emergence.