Royal biographer Andrew Lownie went on American television and confirmed a claim that has put Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, at the center of a scandal reaching all the way to Buckingham Palace. During a live appearance on Megyn Kelly’s show to promote the paperback of his book “The Rise and Fall of the House of York,” Lownie alleged that Ferguson had a years-long “friends with benefits” relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs. Even more explosive, his book claims she brought her then-16-year-old daughter, Princess Eugenie, to one of Combs’s yacht parties back in 2006. The allegations had been circulating in British tabloids for some time, but the interview on American television transformed the story.
Megyn Kelly directly presented Ferguson’s denial to Lownie before he went on the offensive, and his calm confirmation on a major U. S. platform forced serious journalists to treat the claims as a story requiring a response. The moment he confirmed the relationship and the allegations on camera, the rumor became a headline.
According to Lownie’s book, the relationship between Ferguson and Combs began around 2002, though he has since revised his timeline. He now says photographs have emerged of the two together at a 1998 Combs birthday party, pushing the connection back even further. The book describes a long-running, discreet arrangement with meetings at high-end hotels across Europe and Africa, including one reportedly costing more than £50,000 a night. Ferguson’s representatives have denied the relationship, claiming she only met Combs twice.
Lownie pushed back on that directly, citing photographic evidence of them meeting on numerous occasions. The connection between the two figures reportedly ran deep. Lownie claims the 2006 Diddy fragrance “Unforgivable” was allegedly inspired by Ferguson. A former Bad Boy Records employee reportedly told the book’s author that Combs was obsessed with the royal family and bragged openly about the relationship.
Lownie says Combs was eager to get close to the British royals, as his money and fame could not buy him that specific kind of status. The most serious allegation, however, concerns Ferguson’s daughters. Lownie’s book claims she introduced both Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to Combs on multiple occasions. In 2006, she allegedly brought Eugenie, then 16 years old, to a Combs yacht party.
The book sources this claim to a royal household staffer who described the parties as wild and said it was alarming that Eugenie was brought around the rapper. The same staffer reportedly said the teenage princess’s presence was alarming, a detail that has sparked widespread outrage. Ferguson’s side has categorically denied these claims, calling them fabricated. There has been no legal finding in the case, and no court has ruled on the matter.
The sourcing rests entirely on anonymous accounts from Lownie’s book, and both Ferguson and Combs deny the accusations. Still, the number that keeps drawing attention back to the story is 16, the age of the princess allegedly brought into that world. The scandal is set against a backdrop of deep financial turmoil for Ferguson. The book paints a picture of a woman who struggled financially after divorcing Prince Andrew in 1996, with enormous debts and lavish spending habits.
Staff members quoted described her demanding fresh-squeezed orange juice prepared as she sat down, requiring up to ten different types of pasta to be prepared each evening, and insisting that her underwear be ironed. Lownie also claims she used charities to clean up her image and enhance her social ambitions, with expenses allegedly swallowing what was raised. Her daughter Eugenie’s own charity, the Anti-Slavery Collective, is currently under investigation by the charities commission. Ferguson’s husband at the time, Prince Andrew, was already largely absent from the marriage long before their divorce, according to the book.
This has only amplified the scrutiny. Andrew spent years in Jeffrey Epstein’s world and was accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl trafficked by the financier. He denied those allegations, settled a civil case in 2022 without admitting liability, and has since been stripped of his royal titles and duties. Lownie’s book argues his Epstein ties go earlier and run deeper than what has been publicly reported.
The timing of the allegations is also notable. In October 2025, Ferguson quietly dropped her Duchess title after an old email surfaced in which she called Epstein her steadfast, generous, and supreme friend. In March 2026, she lost her Freedom of the City of York honor. Now, this new scandal pulls her back into the spotlight for entirely different reasons.
Lownie concluded his interview by standing by his sourcing, saying his source is strong. He even suggested more details would soon be published through other outlets. Ferguson’s representatives have continued to deny the claims, but the story continues to move fast, dragging one of Britain’s most well-known royal families back into a controversy no one appears able to escape.