For context, the Duke and Duchess of York separated in 1992 and officially divorced in 1996, yet Ferguson continued to use her duchess title until Andrew’s recent decision to relinquish his own. The pair have shared the Royal Lodge since 2008 and continue to reside there together, despite their marital split. They also share two daughters — Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35.

In a 2018 interview with MailOnline, Ferguson explained their unusual arrangement, saying: “Although we are not a couple, we really believe in each other. The Yorks are a united family.”

She later told the Financial Times in 2021: “I’m lucky enough to be a guest at Royal Lodge. He’s that side and I’m this side,” adding that she and Andrew were “the happiest divorced couple in the world.”

However, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams described their cohabitation as an “arrangement of convenience,” claiming it was driven more by financial motives than family closeness. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “It’s lucrative for both of them to be together. This has been an arrangement of convenience to enable them to live at a certain level. My feeling is that it was because they are extremely greedy. They desired a certain lifestyle — and this was the main way to get it.”

Fitzwilliams added that the situation has worked to their mutual advantage since 2008 but suggested that the decision to live apart now reflects a change in circumstances. “The world can clearly see that the previous arrangement was designed to maximise the benefit of Andrew’s public life for them privately,” he said.