Sarah Ferguson is urgently searching for a new hiding place after her secret Austrian retreat was uncovered — as she braces for the possibility of being served with legal papers over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The former royal, 66, has been working the phones since the weekend, sources say, desperately seeking a new bolthole after photographs taken near her Alpine sanctuary were published last week, blowing her cover.
Ferguson had been staying at a luxury £2,000-a-night apartment at the Mayrlife wellness spa in Altaussee, near Salzburg — checking in nearly a month ago and barely leaving her first-floor two-bedroom chalet overlooking the lake. She was never reportedly seen on the resort's walking trails, the lakeside or its clay tennis courts, ordered all her meals via room service and kept contact with the outside world to a bare minimum.
She is now believed to have moved on from the retreat and will depend on wealthy contacts for shelter.
The question of how Ferguson has been financing her extended stay at the Mayrlife spa remains unanswered. The spa's co-owners, Natascha Sommerer and Dr Dieter Resch, is understood to have known Ferguson since she stayed there in 2023 while recovering from breast cancer and melanoma. Sommerer — daughter of the late Austrian industrialist and former vice-chancellor Hannes Androsch — is said to have bonded with Ferguson during that visit and was grateful for the publicity she subsequently brought to the clinic.
Ferguson recorded a promotional video for the resort praising it as "a safe place, a sanctuary" and "probably one of the only places in the world where I can just be Sarah."
Royal expert Tom Sykes, writing in The Daily Beast, suggested another possible source of income — a lucrative book deal. "The idea that she is financing an Austrian spa break out of her own pocket strains credulity," Sykes wrote. "The big rumor… is that Ferguson has secured a substantial book deal, a tell-all or at least tell-some, memoir that would represent a monster payday."
Friends, however, insist she has loyal supporters ready to help. "Sarah has good friends," a source told the Mail. "People who know her well are happy to help her. She won't be left with nowhere to go."
Asked whether Ferguson regretted her friendship with the late convicted paedophile, the source was unequivocal. "What do you think? Of course she does."
The Epstein Files exposed a series of deeply damaging emails from 2010 — two years after Epstein was jailed for procuring minors for prostitution — in which Ferguson described him as "a legend" and wrote: "I really don't have the words to describe my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness… I am at your service. Just marry me."
Ferguson has not been accused of any wrongdoing and no proceedings against her have been made public. But those close to her acknowledge she is watching the post and the doorbell with considerable care.
Last month the Military and Foreign Affairs Oversight Subcommittee of the US Congress wrote to Ferguson requesting she submit to questioning over the Epstein affair.
Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam told her: "It is clear that you possessed social and business ties to Mr. Epstein and have knowledge of information that can assist our investigation. Documentation of your relationship with Mr. Epstein includes referring to Mr. Epstein as 'a legend' – after Mr. Epstein's 2008 conviction – and writing: 'I really don't have the words to describe my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness… I am at your service. Just marry me.'"
He also pointed to Ferguson begging Epstein for a loan and suggested she may hold information about her former husband Andrew's relationship with the financier.
Meanwhile, no fewer than nine UK police forces and the National Crime Agency are examining the Epstein files.
Her former husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his remaining titles in October 2025 and now lives in quiet disgrace while a police investigation continues following his arrest in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Ferguson remains in constant telephone contact with her daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, both of whom have grown increasingly concerned about her mental health.
Friends describe a woman who is tired but not broken. "She just wants a door that doesn't open for strangers," one said. "That's all it is. She wants to breathe."
Where she goes next, those close to her will not say. Options include the homes of long-standing friends in the English counties and elsewhere on the Continent. Austria, for now, is closed to her.
The King's household has made plain for some time that Ferguson is no part of official royal life. She is not invited to Sandringham or Balmoral and will never appear on the Palace balcony again. In constitutional terms, she is a private citizen with a famous name.
