Sarah Ferguson Breaks Cover for the First Time in Over a Year to Join Eugenie and Beatrice for Sad Farewell

It’s been almost exactly a year to the date that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson were stripped of their titles and evicted from Royal Lodge in an unprecedented move by King Charles. After The King’s announcement, the former Duchess of York went into hiding abroad, and even after moving back to England in August, she wasn’t spotted in public…until now.

Ferguson joined her daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and their husbands for a solemn occasion on Thursday, October 29, attending a memorial service for her former boyfriend and longtime friend, Paddy McNally.

McNally, who died at the age of 88 in July, reportedly put Sarah up in one of his Swiss homes as she recovered from the aftermath of her Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Although she didn’t attend his funeral, the Daily Mail shared images of Ferguson arriving at St Paul's Church in Knightsbridge, London for a service of thanksgiving in honor of McNally on Thursday.

The ex-duchess gave a small smile to cameras as she arrived with her daughters and sons-in-law, wearing a navy lace jacket trimmed with a poppy brooch and a matching blue dress.

Entitled author Andrew Lownie previously told Marie Claire that Ferguson was the "Houdini of the Royal Family," but after the public humiliation she endured over the past year, a comeback has felt unlikely.

However, the Daily Mail's Richard Kay wrote that "after this bleakest of years there was something impressive about her willingness to be seen at such a high profile gathering," noting that Sarah "didn't shrink from the cameras."