Sarah Ferguson’s new children’s book is being ‘pulped’ after she was stripped of her title.
Publishing sources have told the Daily Mail that 10,000 copies of ‘Flora and Fern: Kindness Along The Way’ are ‘being sent to the recycling centre’.
The news comes after it was suggested the book had been delayed following the latest public scandal involving the former Duchess of York and her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
But a source confirmed on Tuesday: ‘It’s not been delayed, it’s being pulped.
‘It’s an acknowledgement of the inevitable. No one is going to want to buy it.’
A spokesman for Sarah declined to comment. New Frontier Publishing did not respond to a request for comment.
The £12.99 book was long scheduled to be published on October 9 but then mysteriously delayed to a November 20 release.
In-person signings and talks in bookshops by Sarah were also pulled, but there has been a deafening silence from the ex-duchess or her publishers about her future as an author.
Sarah Ferguson’s new children’s book is being ‘pulped’ after she was stripped of her title (pictured: Ex-Duchess last month)
One local bookshop that had planned a meet and greet with the ex-royal and has now been forced to refund tickets to the public said: ‘It’s a mess. The book is unsalvageable.’
The Mail’s source pointed out that the book can no longer be sold anyway as the cover states it is written by Sarah, Duchess of York – a title she is no longer entitled to use even personally, let alone commercially.
The development begs serious questions as to how Sarah will earn money in the future, since she has received no public money since her divorce and has relied on commercial activities associated with her position.
Andrew’s former wife has enjoyed a long history as a children’s writer, starting with Budgie the Little Helicopter in 1994, and has since branched out to personal memoirs and romantic adult fiction. She has published more than 50 titles in all.
Her latest book was about two rabbits, one of which becomes ‘lost in the big city’ and sets out on an adventure, learning about ‘kindness and community’ on the way.
Sarah, 66, has weathered multiple scandals over the years but appears to have been fatally wounded by the Jeffrey Epstein connection.
Particularly damning was an email published last month by the Mail on Sunday which she wrote to the convicted paedophile after he had been released from prison and she had publicly distanced herself from him.
Following an interview in which she described her involvement with him as a ‘gigantic error of judgement’, she privately apologised for calling him the ‘P-word’ and described him as her ‘supreme friend’.
A spokesman for Sarah insisted she had been forced into writing the email because Epstein had threatened her.
Her latest book was about two rabbits, one of which becomes ‘lost in the big city’ and sets out on an adventure, learning about ‘kindness and community’ on the way
But in the wake of the latest scandal she was dropped by numerous charities with whom she had long-term philanthropic associations, including the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The former duchess, who previously admitted to borrowing £15,000 from Epstein to pay off her debts, has also been accused of taking significantly larger sums from the shamed financier. Such claims have previously been denied.
Earlier this month she lost her title Sarah, Duchess of York when the King stripped his brother of his own remaining titles, leaving him for the first time as plain Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
She is also set to lose her home, having lived with her ex-husband for decades at Royal Lodge in Windsor despite their divorce.
However she is not following him to Sandringham in Norfolk and plans to make her own arrangements in the future, according to sources, which may even include living abroad.
