When Fergie Met The Monarchy, Queen and Sarah Ferguson
Royals

When Fergie Met The Monarchy: Channel 5 doc reveals Queen’s fury over ‘toe-sucking’ incident

The doc revisits the fallout over the infamous photographs

When Fergie Met The Monarchy, a new documentary airing on Channel 5, will shed light on the Queen and Prince Philip’s response to the infamous ‘toe-sucking’ incident.

The programme explores the Duchess of York’s life within The Firm – and the reactions of its senior members to the photographs of her and Texan millionaire John Bryan.

Pictures showed Sarah Ferguson with her foot near John Bryan’s mouth (Credit: David Cooper / Alamy Stock Photo / Channel 5)

When Fergie Met The Monarchy explores ‘toe-sucking’ incident

After a break in the South of France with financial manager John and her children, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, Fergie was reportedly with the other royals at Balmoral when they saw the pictures in the morning’s papers.

Photos showed Sarah lying topless on a sunbed with John holding her foot, appearing to put her toes in his mouth.

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Expert Emily Andrews says in the documentary: “The morning’s newspapers were all laid out on a side table in the breakfast room in Balmoral and [they] were filled with the pictures of Sarah Ferguson.”

The Duke and Duchess of York divorced in 1996 (Credit: David Cooper / Alamy Stock Photo / Channel 5)

Claims the Queen and Prince Philip were ‘furious’

Tom Quinn, author, says: “[John] claims, as if it makes any difference, that he was kissing her toes. It’s impossible to imagine the shock and horror, even for someone as confident as Sarah.

“Apparently Prince Philip came into the breakfast room, picked up one of the papers and just threw it in front of her and walked out.

“Famously, Sarah sent flowers to Princess Margaret, who sent them back with a note saying, ‘You’re an absolute disgrace to the family’.

The toe-sucking incident reportedly had the Queen and Prince Philip ‘furious’ (Credit: Tony Clark / SplashNews.com)

TV presenter Jennie Bond says in When Fergie Met The Monarchy: “She knew she had to face her mother-in-law. And the Queen was absolutely furious, apparently.”

Sarah left Balmoral after that morning with her daughters.

And the Royal Family subsequently let her father go as Prince Charles’ polo manager, a role had held for 20 years.

Sarah is the mother of Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice (Credit: David Cooper / Alamy Stock Photo / Channel 5)

Philip’s ‘rage’ over Fergie pictures

Writer Ingrid Seward says: “After the break-up of the marriage, Prince Philip is absolutely incandescent with rage with her. Because he feels that she’s let down the monarchy, which he has spent his entire life supporting – i.e. the Queen.”

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However, later in the programme it speculates that Philip’s attitude to Fergie may have softened in more recent years.

He reportedly always refused to be in the same room as her. However, they sat not far from each other at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018.

Poster

– When Fergie Met The Monarchy airs Saturday, February 6 at 9pm on Channel 5

Will you be watching the documentary? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor