page_title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York
section_title: Marriage to Sarah Ferguson
hierarchical_section_title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York / Personal life / Marriage to Sarah Ferguson
caption_attribution_description: English: The Duke of York, June 2012
context_page_description: Prince Andrew, Duke of York, KG, GCVO, CD, ADC is a member of the British royal family.
  He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was second in the line of succession to the British throne when he was born, and is eighth in line as of June 2020. Prince Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor and as the captain of a warship. During the Falklands War, he flew on multiple missions including anti-surface warfare, Exocet missile decoy, and casualty evacuation. In 1986, Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson. They have two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Their marriage, separation, and divorce in 1996 attracted much media coverage. He served as Britain's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for ten years until July 2011.
context_section_description: Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey on 23 July 1986. The same day, the Queen created him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh. The first two of these titles were previously held by both his maternal grandfather and great-grandfather. Prince Andrew had known Ferguson since childhood; they had met occasionally at polo matches, and became re-acquainted with each other at Royal Ascot in 1985.
  The couple appeared to have a happy marriage and had two daughters together, presenting a united outward appearance during the late 1980s. His wife's personal qualities were seen as refreshing in the context of the formal protocol surrounding the Royal Family. However, the Duke of York's frequent travel due to his military career, as well as relentless, often critical, media attention focused on the Duchess of York, led to fractures in the marriage. On 19 March 1992, the couple announced plans to separate and did so in an amicable way. Some months later, pictures appeared in the tabloid media of the Duchess in intimate association with John Bryan, her financial advisor at the time, which effectively ended any hopes of a reconciliation between the Duke and Duchess. The marriage was ended in divorce on 30 May 1996. The Duke of York spoke fondly of his former wife: "We have managed to work together to bring our children up in a way that few others have been able to and I am extremely grateful to be able to do that."
  The couple agreed to share custody of their two daughters, and the Duchess continued to live at the Duke's home, Sunninghill Park, until 2004, when he moved to the Royal Lodge. In 2007, Sarah, Duchess of York, purchased Dolphin House, a mansion directly beside the Royal Lodge. In 2008, a fire at Dolphin House resulted in Sarah moving into the Royal Lodge, again sharing a house with the Duke of York. Prince Andrew's lease of Royal Lodge is for 75 years, with the Crown Estate as landlord, and there is no annual tenancy charge.
  In May 2010, Sarah, Duchess of York, was filmed by a News of the World reporter claiming that her former husband had agreed that if she were to receive £500,000, he would meet the donor and pass on useful top-level business contacts. She was filmed receiving, in cash, $40,000 as a down payment. The Duke's entourage emphatically denied he knew of the situation. In July 2011, Sarah stated that her multi-million pound debts had been cleared due to the intervention of her former husband, whom she compared to a "knight on a white charger".
caption: The Duke of York riding in the carriage procession at Trooping the Colour, 16 June 2012
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