Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten Windsor once famously called themselves the ‘happiest divorced couple ever,’ but it’s no secret that their marriage weathered plenty of scandal.

Fergie’s infamous toe-sucking snaps with her American lover John Bryan were the final blow for the couple’s marriage, but fresh details have emerged about alleged affairs on both sides, with Andrew said to have slept with more than a dozen women in the first year being wedded to Sarah.

Despite the alleged infidelity from both parties, Andrew and Sarah have remained close over the years – even though various scandals saw Fergie banished from the inner royal circle for many years.

Despite falling “head over heels” for her secret lover John Bryan, Sarah was left “hysterical” when Andrew rang her to tell her that they were separating – and he apparently said that it wasn’t his own decision.

Fergie may have been devastated her love story with Andrew was coming to an end, but her romance with Bryan is alleged to have taken place under his nose, with the former prince none the wiser that his wife’s lover was staying in their home with them.

Writing in his memoir ‘Fergie – Her Secret Life,’ ex pal Dr Allan Starkie claimed that Andrew, unaware of his wife’s new lover, continued to share a bedroom with her at Sunninghill Park, their Windsor home gifted to them by the Queen. The author says that Bryan had made himself as somewhat of a business advisor for Sarah, aiming to help maximise profits from her children’s book Budgie the Helicopter.

According to the Daily Mail: “When John Bryan came to stay at Sunninghill, he and Sarah would indulge in sex acts in Andrew’s study after the prince had gone to bed. She didn’t care. ‘Vulgar, vulgar, vulgar,’ stormed the Queen’s former private secretary, Lord Charteris.”

Meanwhile, an explosive biography of Andrew and Sarah released over the summer – ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’ by Andrew Lownie – claimed that the aftermath of the affair with Bryan going public saw the former duchess berated by her sister-in-law, Princess Anne, over dinner, and that no-one pushed back on Anne’s anger at Fergie. “There was not one voice raised against Anne. Andrew’s anger melted into sadness, and he buried himself in the special reports compiled for the Queen, which she did not hesitate to let him read.”

The former couple still live together at Royal Lodge, but with the pair poised to say goodbye to their long-term home near Windsor Castle, they are finally going their separate ways. Disgraced Andrew will be moving to a home on King Charles’ private estate in Norfolk – Sandringham – but it has yet to be confirmed where Fergie will be heading.

Sarah Ferguson has been contacted for comment.