Following months of travelling around Europe and the fallout of a high-profile shake-up in royal circles, Sarah Ferguson is apparently set to return to the UK for a peaceful comeback.
The former Duchess of York, 66, has been out of the limelight throughout the first half of 2026, and sources close to the royal said that her priorities now lie with family life in Britain, focusing on daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, as well as her grandchildren, instead of trying to reclaim her former royal status.
According to a report on Naughty But Nice by royal expert Rob Shuter, Ferguson’s sources say she has finally come to terms with her role being entirely outside of the public sphere of royalty.
“Sarah knows there’s no road back to public life. She’s made peace with that,” a royal source told the website. “What she wants now isn’t a comeback-it’s a normal family life surrounded by the people she loves.”
The desire comes after a turbulent period for Ferguson. She had been stripped of her “Duchess of York” title at the end of 2025, with the City of York Council unanimous in their vote in March 2026 to take away her ceremonial “Freedom of the City of York” honour.
Ferguson had shared Royal Lodge, a 30-bedroom mansion in Windsor, with Prince Andrew for decades but after they officially vacated the property, while the Duke moved to Sandringham, she’s had to find independent living arrangements.
Insiders report that she has been “house-hunting for a place” near Windsor and plans to make an independent living, in close proximity to her two daughters. Princess Beatrice mostly lives in Oxford shire but also maintains a base at St James’s Palace.
Her younger sister, Eugenie, splits her time between Portugal and Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace. Neither Beatrice or Eugenie, according to sources, can offer their mother a place to stay full time so she is going to make her own way back in the UK.
Ferguson was last seen publicly in early 2026, staying at exclusive wellness clinic, Mayrlife, in Altaussee, Austria and friends report that she has spent the intervening time at private retreats in Switzerland and Ireland. “Her friends accept she’ll always face the headlines wherever she goes, but her priority is now being close to Beatrice and Eugenie.”