Royal Family keeps Fleet Street busy

Press, 10 January 1986, Page 22

Royal Family keeps Fleet Street busy

From

ROBIN CHARTERIS,

in London

It could be love ever after for Prince Andrew, reconciliation for Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, and a slap in the eye for the Queen if Fleet Street’s popular papers are to be believed.

On Prince Andrew, they say: “The girl tipped to become Prince Andrew’s bride left Sandringham after gaining the full Royal seal of approval” — the “Daily Express.” Red-haired Sarah Ferguson, aged 26, had just spent a week there with the Royal Family, the only girl friend of “the lusty prince” to have received a personal invitation from the Queen. The “Daily Express,” the “Star” and the “Sun” all quoted unnamed Royal aides as saying the prince, aged 25, and the sales executive walked hand in hand down country lanes and spent many hours together in a “forest lovenest,” an isolated shooting lodge on the Sandringham estate. Sarah, who works for a London printing firm and is

the former girlfriend of the widowed motor racing boss, Mr Paddy McNally, is a close friend of Princess Diana — which is seen as another point in her favour. According to the “Daily Express,” Sarah’s father, Major Ron Ferguson, who is Prince Charles’ polo manager, will say no more than: “There is obviously a connection, but it is not for me to speculate on what it is. Sarah is a big girl now and she’s old enough to speak for herself.” The “Star,” while maintaining Sarah is a favourite with the Royal Family, felt Prince Andrew would not be rushed to the altar. It quoted a Royal aide as claiming the prince had not yet got over his love affair with the actress, Koo Stark — a relationship which brought him into trouble with his parents. “The Queen is understood to be concerned about the gossip which has dogged Anne and Mark,” said the “Sun.”

For years the two have spent birthdays and wedding anniversaries apart, and they are seldom seen in each other’s company.

Last year, the princess was plagued by claims by her former bodyguard that he had an “unusually close” relationship with her. The “Sun” quotes a friend of the couple as saying they had a “terrible time in 1985 from scandalmongers” and that “there is no question that rumours put tremendous pressure on their marriage.” Commenting on the news that the Royal couple and their two children had flown secretly to Switzerland for their first holiday together in at least eight years, the “Sun” quoted a Royal friend as saying that after months of pressure on their marriage, the trip was a determined attempt to bring them closer together. Princess Anne, her husband and their children, Peter, aged 8, and Zara, aged 4, are spending a week skiing “in the hope it will heal some of the scars and bring them closer together.” As for the Queen, she had a “rueful, any-for-me? look” on her face outside Sandringham Church last Sunday as nearly 50 local children lined up with flowers, said the “Daily Express.”