Fresh cash crisis: The financially challenged Duchess of York faces a £6,000 postal bill from the Queen
The Duchess of York was facing fresh embarrassment today after running up a bill of £6,500 using the Queen’s special mail service.
The cash-strapped Duchess, 50, used the service to send out signed photographs and gifts to friends at home and abroad - and was warned she might be barred from using it further unless her debt was cleared.
How Fergie's novel might look: The story, set in 1812, tells the story of a fiery redhead called Sarah - although Fergie insists 'this isn't a story about me'
Digging in: The manuscript delivered by Fergie and Laura Van Wormer was rejected because it did not contain enough sex, and the pair were reluctant to make changes to the story
Signed photos and gifts: Sources say Fergie, pictured with Naomi Campbell, is always sending letters and gifts to her friends and acquaintances
Not amused: A former employee at the Windsor Castle mail room, which handles mail from the Queen and other royals, said Fergie's unpaid bills were 'bible thick'
The disclosure that the Duchess, who reportedly has debts of up to £2 million, failed to keep up payments is just the latest in a series of damaging revelations about her finances.
The Duchess, who still lives with her ex-husband Prince Andrew at Royal Lodge in Windsor, used the mail room at nearby Windsor Castle on ‘an almost daily basis’ to send out hundreds of letters, photographs and gifts.
Items mailed out included silver letter openers, money clips and cufflinks bought from jewellers including Patrick Mavros and Theo Fennell in London and Tom French in Ascot.
Staff from the Duchess’s office at Royal Lodge would make the three-mile journey by car to drop the packages at the ground-floor mail room, where they would be franked before being sent out.
The aide who had dropped off the mail would then be given a chit detailing the cost.
The Windsor Castle mail room is part of the Court Post Service, which handles all deliveries for the Royal Household.
The service, which dates back to the early 1900s, has its own fleet of vehicles and is run by Royal Mail staff seconded to Royal palaces.
One former employee, who asked not to be named, said individual deliveries could cost several hundred pounds.
They added that the invoices would be placed in one of two A4 files in the Duchess’s office which were ‘Bible thick’ with unpaid bills.
The staff member said: ‘The Duchess knows a load of people and she was always sending out cards and gifts for birthdays and special occasions. A couple of months ago it became clear there were problems with arrears on the account.
There were a number of phone calls to the office to chase up payment and staff who drop off the mail at Windsor Castle would be hassled about it. It was a case of, “Tell the office this is the last time unless the bill is cleared”.’
The Duchess is also reportedly in debt to a number of businesses in Windsor, including a butcher’s and a dry cleaner.
A newsagent is believed to have stopped delivering newspapers because of an unpaid £500 bill.
A spokesman for the Duchess confirmed that she had an account with the Palace’s internal mail service. He said she had cleared the arrears last week.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the matter.
The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that the Duchess may declare herself voluntarily bankrupt in a bid to deal with her financial problems.
The proposal is one of a number of options being considered by officials in Prince Andrew’s office who have taken over responsibilities for the Duchess’s affairs.
One source said: ‘The voluntary bankruptcy idea is just one of a number of options being considered. No firm decisions have been made yet. The Duchess is involved in talks over a number of projects including a possible slot on Oprah Winfrey’s new television network.
‘She wants to await the outcome of those negotiations before deciding what to do.’
Debtors can declare themselves bankrupt if they feel there is no alternative course of action. Anyone who opts for voluntary bankruptcy is guaranteed their living expenses and will have to pay back only what the receiver decides they can afford. In some cases they may not have to pay back anything at all.
A friend said: ‘It is not an idea the Duchess would be keen on and it is not something she would rush in to. She may have her faults but disloyalty isn’t one of them.
‘She will feel obligated to repay anyone who has provided a genuine service and is owed money. Everyone is hoping that the deal with Oprah works out. Sarah has been in terrible situations before and has always managed to climb back.’
The Duchess has been mired in controversy since May when she was filmed taking £27,000 from an undercover reporter, promising him access to her ex-husband for a further payment of £500,000.
There is no suggestion that Prince Andrew, Britain’s international trade representative, knew about the arrangement. The Duchess later confessed that she was drunk.
Both Buckingham Palace and the Duchess’s spokesman declined to comment on the possible bankruptcy.
Riddle of Sarah's bodice-ripper with 'not enough sex'
The Duchess of York could be forced to hand back £50,000 - more than five years after receiving the advance to write a raunchy historical novel.
Sarah Ferguson is now under pressure to produce the bodice-ripper within the next 12 months to avoid further damage to her troubled financial state.
Although her literary reputation is built on writing children’s books about a cheeky helicopter, the 50-year-old Duchess is said to have received the payment for a tome based on a 19th Century female aristocrat.
According to one source, the Duchess did produce an 800-page manuscript two years ago - but it was rejected as it did not contain enough sex for the publishers, New York-based St Martin’s Press.
That draft was co-written with American crime novelist Laura Van Wormer, although Fergie is now believed to be working with a new, unnamed, collaborator.
A source said last night: ‘What it comes down to is that the book Sarah and Laura wrote is not what the publishers want.
‘I’ve got no idea how this happened as they submitted a 100-page pitch which was bought by St Martin’s, so everyone knew what they were getting themselves into.
‘St Martin’s wanted more sex and characters who never left the house. What they got was this epic set over decades which is full of plot twists, wild horses, battles, guns - not really your typical drawing room romance.
‘The publishers kept demanding changes and Sarah and Laura just said “No”. This was what they were doing and that was it. Things just got worse from there on in. Everyone dug their heels in and now we are in deadlock.’
The Duchess’s spokesman said last night: ‘The Duchess cannot recall the exact amount of the advance, but she thinks it was under six figures.
‘The book will be produced within a year and the Duchess will honour her commitment despite these difficulties.’
Nobody from St Martin’s Press was available for comment, despite numerous attempts to contact its executives at work and at home.
The Duchess’s novel was originally entitled Hartmoor, the same name as the Manhattan-based company set up to manage her media and public speaking career.
But the title has now been changed to Wingfield after the firm went bust in October 2009 with debts of more than £630,000.
Set in 1812, the novel tells the story of a fiery redhead called Sarah - although the Duchess has insisted that ‘this isn’t a story about me’.
The central character is Lady Sarah Montagu, the only child of the 9th Earl of Hartmoor, who travels to America to find her kidnapped father.
The initial chapters were written by the Duchess and Van Wormer during a week-long cruise on board Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York in spring 2007
The trip, during which Fergie made five speeches written for her by Bill Clinton’s former speechwriters, came courtesy of Spanish-owned tiling firm Porcelanosa.
Sources said the Duchess was paid a £250,000 fee by the company, which also picked up the tab for the cruise, including paying for her entourage: a hairdresser, personal trainer, make-up artist, two assistants, Ms Van Wormer, four staff from Hartmoor plus a male business friend.
Sources with an intimate knowledge of the book have told The Mail on Sunday that by the time the QM2 docked in New York, one third of the novel had been written.
Porcelanosa has previously been under scrutiny for its relationship with Prince Charles, following investigations by The Mail on Sunday.
The company was awarded a Royal warrant after carrying out work at his residences, and has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Prince’s favourite charities.
St Martin’s Press is one of America’s biggest publishers, with a host of bestselling authors including Dan Brown, Jackie Collins, Frederick Forsyth, Barbara Taylor Bradford and Robert Ludlum.
Neither Ms Van Wormer nor her literary agent responded to requests for comment.
