Former Royal Butler Says Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson Were "Both Outsiders" in the Royal Family, But Their Relationship "Soured" Beyond Repair

Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson were extremely close and appeared to have a lot of fun together, even getting arrested at a bachelorette party. However, their friendship sadly turned "sour," and they weren't speaking at the time of Princess Diana's death in August 1997. Now, Princess Diana's former butler is reflecting on the unique friendship between King Charles and Prince Andrew's wives.

Former royal butler Paul Burrell said on behalf of Prime Casino, "Diana and Fergie were great friends and allies in the early years—we saw them pranking around in public and heard about their pranks in private." Burrell continued, "They were very close, they bounced off each other, and they supported each other because they were both outsiders coming into the Royal Family. Not an easy place for anyone to be, so they could literally confide in each other."

Discussing the devastating rift that formed between Diana and Sarah, Burrell explained, "Sadly, that relationship went sour towards the end of Diana's life, and they fell out. For the last six months of Diana's life, Fergie had no contact with Diana and that was a shame because they've been through so much together. Something happened in their personal lives which they found was impossible to hurdle."

According to Burrell, Diana's death was particularly difficult for the Duchess of York, whom he described as being "all at sea" when she heard the news. The former royal butler elaborated, "She didn't have anyone to lean on or rely on like Diana, and she missed her very much. I think she still misses her to this day because they were such great friends."

Ferguson wrote about her friendship with the former Princess of Wales in her memoir, Finding Sarah: A Duchess's Journey to Find Herself. "Diana was one of the quickest wits I knew; nobody made me laugh like she did," Ferguson wrote (via the Mirror). "We took vacations together with our children. Sadly, at the end [of Diana's life] we hadn't spoken for a year, although I never knew the reason, except that once Diana got something in her head it stuck there for a while."