Fergie's Royal Hustle: Cash, Corgis & Scandal

0:00On March 28th, Sarah Ferguson, the ex-Duchess of York, has spent decades hustling cash off her royal connections and a new book lays it all bare. The wildest pitch? Coney the Queen's Corgi's back in May 2023 for big bucks, pet clones fetch up to 75,000 pounds in the US. It never happened, but it shows her desperation after claiming she was always near bankruptcy. Early schemes kicked off 30 years ago with a nursing home deal. She got one pound per bed for lending her name, projecting 30,000 pounds the first year. Her partner, East End Entrepreneur Clive Garage, loved the royal glow but ended up bankrupt and jailed for fraud. He even funded her show jumping horse streams in Ireland. These moves drew side eyes for exploiting the crown, like a 50,000-pound magazine spread in 1989 with baby princess Beatrice's. Bath picks, cash quietly routed to her mom's home upgrades. Relationships turned business, too. Italian aristocrat paid 25,000 pounds a pop for promo stunts amid their romance.

1:03Later gigs piled on, 25,000 pounds per modeling appearance, huge memoir advances, speeches netting $550,000. For five talks, even weight watchers and bastard ships. Shadyr's stuff included cash for access offers and evsiting funds to clear debts. Her modern divorce with Andrew kept the lifestyle flowing. They still share a home, but its scandals and slashed allowances have tanked her prospects. The royal hustle's glamour fades fast when the ties fray.