2026-03-29 10:00
publication
2026-03-29 10:00
Fergie, or Sarah Ferguson – the ex-wife of Prince Andrew (brother of the reigning King Charles III) – has always had problems with managing her budget. Now, with her branch of the Windsor family painfully marginalized and excluded from major honors, she decided to repair her finances. The news spread around the world that she was going to sign a contract for a reality show in which she would clone dogs inherited from the late Elizabeth II.
When it seems that the British royal family can no longer surprise us with anything, someone from the sidelines will always jump out to confirm us – ordinary mortals – in the belief that this mule simply has no end.
A lucrative business for a grasping at straws?
Muick and Sandy were Queen Elizabeth's two dogs who were returned to Fergie and Andrew's care after her death. They were the ones who had previously given these four-legged dogs to the monarch, trying to comfort her when Prince Philip was dying. Apparently, just eight months after the Queen's funeral, Fergie came up with an idea on how to cash in on this “livestock”.
She was to approach several media companies with a controversial proposal – she wanted to record a program in which she would sell genetic replicas of her former mother-in-law's dogs to other lovers of the breed (and the British crown). As people familiar with the matter anonymously emphasize: she just wanted to get back on TV and make some money. This would require breeding the queen's pets, including through a cloning procedure.
There were meetings on Zoom with people from television and an exchange of emails. At one point she wanted to involve, as she put it, her “team”. Sarah seemed willing to do anything as long as she was paid – and especially if she could travel a bit and meet wealthy aristocrats who might want a corgi.
“Grotesque and completely bizarre”
What was this scheme supposed to look like? Fergie planned to start a company called “The Queen's Corgis”. The Daily Mail quotes sketches of scripts in which the former daughter-in-law of Elizabeth II was to take viewers on “a journey not only through the fascinating world of genetics and cloning, but also to show how the royal family functions.” Ultimately, the project was abandoned after preliminary talks and business lunches.
After several days of speculation, the spokesman for the main character of the scandal commented on the matter. The published statement stated: “Sarah Ferguson did not initiate talks with media companies and withdrew from them of her own free will […] If for a moment she seemed enthusiastic about the ideas that were presented to her, it was because that's just who she is. It needs to be made clear: Sarah never intended to make money off of corgis.” Rather than quelling the rumors, this defense only fueled them.
Harmful cloning practice with 'royal glitter'
In 2023, over 1,200 successful dog cloning procedures were performed worldwide. In Great Britain it is illegal, but – as reported by “The Independent” – Gemini Genetics circumvents this law by sending frozen tissue to the USA. The “surgery” to recreate a dog from donor ear tissue costs PLN 45,000. pounds.
However, please remember that a clone is only a visual photocopy. Each animal is unique, with its own personality, quirks and needs. The clone is always a different dog than the donor because it is shaped by a different environment, different daily routine and different caregivers. Additionally, the process itself is far from perfect. Some puppies born to dog surrogates have significant genetic defects, and several litters are often needed to obtain a healthy individual. That is why the whole procedure is sharply criticized by animal rights activists.
Leaving aside the moral and ethical judgment of breeding animals at the whim of owners, royal biographer Richard Fitzwilliams summed up Fergie's idea succinctly: ““To consider cloning the late Queen's beloved dogs for financial gain is incredibly grotesque and completely bizarre.”.
30 years of questionable business dealings of daughter-in-law Elizabeth
It is worth remembering that we are talking about the same Fergie who – as Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, testified – desperately begged him for a job (and allegedly even for marriage), arguing that she would be the perfect domestic assistant. She did this while he was already under house arrest after being convicted of pimping minors.
Her insatiable hunger for cash has been driving this side of the Windsor family to the deepest for years. Here are just a few examples:
- consent to the use of his name by the network of “Duchess of York Care Homes” in exchange for £1 from each resident. Fergie's partner in the business eventually went bankrupt and ended up behind bars for tax fraud;
- consent to a 48-page interview and photo session in “Hello!” magazine (1989), where it was shown, among others, her daughter – Princess Beatrice – in the bath. Honorarium in the amount of PLN 50,000. pounds ended up in Fergie's mother's account, financing the renovation of her property;
- admission 550 thousand dollars from the manufacturer of ceramic tiles Porcelanosa for just five short lectures on “How to change your life”. This money largely financed a luxurious cruise on the Queen Mary 2 for the Duchess and her entourage;
- valuing your presence alone (to promote products at corporate events) at PLN 25,000. pounds;
- Fergie first won 84,000. pounds in compensation from the “Paris Match” magazine for publishing her topless photos in 1992, and a moment later she unscrupulously signed a contract with the same title for PLN 50,000. pounds for a single article in which she portrayed herself as a reporter;
- demanded 500,000 from a journalist posing as a sheikh. pounds for introducing him to her ex-husband. This was supposed to “open every door for him.”
Unfortunately, there are many examples. And to the dismay of the rest of the Windsors, Sarah Ferguson apparently hasn't said her last word yet.
The fall of Harry and Meghan's empire. Even Netflix has had enough
Everything seems to indicate that the fairy tale of the Sussex couple conquering Hollywood is coming to an end. Netflix is already “fed up” with cooperation with Harry and Meghan – according to reports from “Variety”, a magazine that is almost a bible for pop culture. Marriage hardly delivers content suitable only for binge-watching. As it turns out, even the vague prospect of another reality show – perhaps one related to divorce – is not able to keep the streaming giant with the royal couple.
Pop culture and money at Bankier.pl, i.e. a series about finances from the “back pages of newspapers”. Facts and gossip covered with Poliszynel's secrets. We look into the wallets of the rich and famous, behind the scenes of famous titles, and under the packaging of the hottest products. What are the amounts behind HBO and Netflix hits? How do the Windsors monetize Britishness? How much does it cost to stay overnight in the most haunted castle? Is it worth investing in Lego? To answer these and other questions, we won't hesitate to even visit Reddit.
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