The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, has lived her life both in and out of the spotlight. Ferguson was born in October 1959 in London to Major Ronald Ferguson and Susan Barrantes. The author went on to finish a course at Queen's Secretarial College before deciding to drop out of school and work for an art gallery. In March 1986, Ferguson and Prince Andrew announced their engagement and officially tied the knot in Westminster Abbey that July. Ferguson assumed her husband's royal and ducal status and became the Duchess of York. The duo then expanded their family in August 1988 with the birth of their daughter Beatrice. Their youngest daughter, Eugenie, arrived in March 1990. After six years together, the couple announced their separation in March 1992 and filed for divorce in April 1996. Although the pair called it quits, they have since remained close friends and still continue to live together at Royal Lodge in Windsor. She is no longer a working royal post-divorce. Ferguson followed Andrew in giving up their royal titles as the Duke and Duchess of York in October 2025 in light of their connection to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (Both Ferguson and Andrew have denied any wrongdoing associated with Epstein, who died by suicide at age 66 in 2019.) Scroll down for a look back at Ferguson's ups and downs as part of the royal family: