Duchess 'on the brink of bankruptcy'

The Duchess of York described herself as being on the brink of bankruptcy after amassing huge debts as she explained her actions in the cash-for-access scandal.

Sarah Ferguson described her situation as “out of control” during an interview with US chatshow queen Oprah Winfrey.

The former royal talked at length about what led her to offer to sell an introduction to her ex-husband the Duke of York for £500,000.

In the interview screened last night Sarah painted a picture of herself as a woman living beyond her means trying to be the “Duchess of York” while her financial position worsened.

During the soul searching the former royal also appeared to liken her situation to one experienced by an addict and said her issues around debt needed to be dealt with.

She told Winfrey: “Like anybody that goes through, whether it be addiction to food, addiction to goodness knows what, I think that I don’t call it an addiction because I think it’s just out of control behaviour.

“I don’t know, Oprah. I don’t know. But I do know that I think running up huge debts and being out of control, never knowing how to deal with it, all of these issues are now to be really looked at.”

The former royal claimed she initially agreed to see the businessman who wanted to meet Andrew because she was trying to get £26,000 for a friend, but was not sure why she asked for the rest of the money.

The meeting was a sting operation organised by the News of the World with a reporter playing the part of the rich contact and all the events were secretly filmed.

Sarah, who has seen a number of business ventures stall recently, would not say how much money she owed, only stating she was “substantially” in debt, and added she was considering filing for bankruptcy.

But she said she had the support of her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, who told her: “It’s a really good fresh clean start for you. We’re 100% here for you and we love you.”

The duchess refused to go into detail about Andrew’s response to the scandal, only saying: “He reached out with understanding.”

The Queen’s former daughter-in-law also admitted she had been drinking and was “in the gutter” when she was filmed by the Sunday newspaper.

During the face-to-face chat over a cup of tea, the duchess wore a short black skirt and jacket and sat opposite the chatshow host.

Sarah also said the £500,000 she asked for had been plucked “out of the sky” and she had no immediate plans for the cash.

The video involving the undercover reporter was played to the duchess and as she watched it she referred to herself in the third person saying: “I feel really sorry for her.”

The footage showed the former royal telling the journalist: “£500,000 when you can, to me, open doors.”

Asked if she was referring to Andrew, she said “Yeah”, then shook hands with the reporter before apparently accepting a 40,000 dollar (£27,600) cash down-payment.

When the video ended the former royal gave her reaction saying she felt “terrible, terrible. But it’s just, well, there aren’t really very many words to describe an act of such gross stupidity”.

Sarah went on to say she knew she had been drinking but could not remember how much or what she had consumed.

She told Winfrey the fake businessman had been introduced to her by a friend and was “highly recommended”.

The 50-year-old duchess explained: “He had come from a friend of mine, the interviewer, and he’d come very highly recommended from four different people. A friend of mine needed 38,000 dollars (£26,000) urgently, and he had said, ’I’ll give that 38,000’ for my friend.”

Sarah also went on to say that she met him because a friend said the businessman “wanted to invest in your children’s books or films or any animations you want to do from your children’s books”.

The chatshow host questioned why the former royal could not use her family connections to get the money her friend needed but the duchess said she was “divorced from the Royal Family”, and despite promoting Weight Watchers for many years had not built a strong financial position for herself.

Her money problems increased to the point where she was forced to live with Andrew at his home, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, because she could not afford the rent on her own house.

The duchess said: “We are divorced and I don’t want to keep being this burden on him.”

She would not confirm how much she received from her ex-husband in their divorce settlement – rumoured to be £15,000 a year – but said she opted for congeniality over cash.

“I chose friendship with the family and I wanted friendship with the boss (Queen), she’s the most wonderful grandmother.”

But during the chat Sarah admitted: “I’ve been living, trying to be the Duchess of York... (living) beyond my means? Yes.”