Unrepentant Fergie ‘feels the world is out to get her’ as friends say: ‘She doesn’t appear to feel remorse. Her head is in the sand’

‘Poor but dreamy’ Sarah Ferguson was tonight coming to terms with the magnitude of her own catastrophic fall from grace.

Like a cat with nine lives, the former Duchess of York spent most of her time in the public spotlight, jumping from one scandal to the next, shrugging apologetically and watching intently for the next opportunity.

But according to friends, even the ever-optimistic ‘Fergie’ is now sitting ‘deep in despair’ following the arrest of her ex-husband, to whom she remains devoted both personally and professionally.

One of them told the Daily Mail: ‘He feels deeply depressed and thinks the world is out to get him. He’s very depressed. Some people, including Sarah herself, are worried about her mental health.

‘[But] What he doesn’t feel is regret for what happened. He wants this all to end as soon as possible and let him move on with his life. His head is in the sand.”

A spokesman for Ms. Ferguson did not respond to repeated requests for comment about her involvement in the Epstein files or Andrew’s arrest.

The 66-year-old former duchess has not been seen in public since last September and her current whereabouts are unknown.

His friends claimed that even those he could ‘normally count on’ for support and funding have now ‘walked away’ in the face of huge public outrage over Epstein’s revelations. ‘The whole situation is poisonous,’ said one, ‘no one wants to go near it.’

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor leaves Aylsham Police Station following his arrest on Thursday. Ever-optimistic ‘Fergie’ now sits ‘in the depths of despair’ after ex-husband’s arrest

Others fear that, as someone who was at ringside during Andrew’s years-long dealings with Epstein, the former duchess could be asked by police to co-operate with their investigation. ‘I’m sure they’ll be willing to talk to him,’ a source said, ‘and it will haunt him.’

‘Obviously the whole family is done. No one will open their wallet anymore.

‘Sarah wants to be left alone to get on with her life, but that’s unlikely to happen.’

There has also been no news from her or Andrew’s daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Eugenie, 35, was reportedly spotted on a half-term ski holiday in the Swiss Alps with her family this week. Hours before her father’s arrest, she was seen in the luxury resort of Gstaad with her husband Jack Brooksbank, their children August, five, and Ernest, three, their nanny and a group of friends.

Gstaad is a favorite with royalty and A-listers, with the king and Madonna previously skiing here.

Hello! magazine quoted one viewer as saying: ‘I was surprised to see it too because I thought it would be unremarkable in light of everything that was going on.’ But Andrew had no idea he would be arrested soon, and it’s unclear how long the family stayed at the facility after the news broke.

The Mail previously reported that Ms Ferguson had been asking around for help finding a PR team to revive her career and had told friends she ‘needed to make money’.

Sarah Ferguson last summer. Like a cat with nine lives, the former Duchess of York spent most of her time in the public eye, jumping from one scandal to the next

Fergie and Andrew at Ascot in 2019. The Mail previously reported that Mrs Ferguson had tried to ‘dismiss’ her ex-husband, whom she had previously referred to as her best friend, by describing them as the ‘happiest divorced couple in the world’.

Sources close to him insist he plans to return to England and rent or buy a house in Windsor as he picks up the pieces of his life.

But friends question how he can achieve this with no visible income and a reputation shattered by the Epstein scandal.

This week it was revealed that six of Fergie’s companies will be shutting down in the next ten days. Emails show convicted pedophile Esptein repeatedly begging for money to pay off huge debts, even after he was released from prison for child sex crimes.

He also issued a humble apology for publicly condemning her at the time, claiming he did so only to protect her career as a children’s book author and saying he felt “badly let down” by her.

The former royal described her as ‘a loyal, generous and sublime friend of me and my family’ and joked that he should marry her.

And the Mail previously reported that Mrs Ferguson had tried to ‘throw out’ her ex-husband, whom she had previously referred to as her best friend, by describing them as the ‘happiest divorced couple in the world’.

Until recently, they continued to live together at Andrew’s Windsor estate, Royal Lodge, three decades after their separation.

But she recently told friends: ‘I’ll have to put some distance between me and Andrew when I get back.’ Royal sources have confirmed that she will not be joining him to live in his new home at the King’s Sandringham Estate.