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As Sarah Ferguson’s dramatic fall from grace continues, the Mirror takes a look at the powerful enemy she made within the Royal Family, who regarded her as ‘simply beyond the pale’

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Sarah Ferguson’s reputation has crumbled in recent weeks as her links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein continues to spark outrage.

And this isn’t the first time she’s caused a storm for the Royal Family, with one senior member of The Firm having viewed her as “beyond the pale”.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the former Duke and Duchess of York would be relinquishing their titles, with Prince Andrew acknowledging that the “continued accusations” surrounding his association with Epstein “distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family”.

This bombshell statement was made days before the publication of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl. In it, she claimed Andrew sexually assaulted her on three separate occasions when she was a teenager. Andrew has always strenuously denied these accusations.

Meanwhile, Sarah, who continues to live with her ex-husband at Windsor’s Royal Lodge, has shared in this most recent downfall, with revelations emerging about her own controversial correspondence with disgraced financier Epstein.

READ MORE: ‘Bored’ Prince Andrew weird days holed up in rent-free mansion ‘playing video games’

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Sarah, who has long affectionately been known as Fergie, was recently dropped by various charities over a 2011 email, sent to Epstein after he was found guilty of procuring a child for prostitution in 2008. In this exchange, Sarah referred to the convicted ex-offender as her “supreme friend” and seemed to apologise over criticisms she’d made about him publicly. Sarah’s team insisted the email was sent through fear for her safety – and her family’s.

Although Sarah’s relatively down-to-earth public persona has long endeared her to many royal watchers, behind palace doors, those within the family’s inner circle have previously taken issue with her behaviour. This most notably includes the late Prince Philip, who decided to wash his hands of his daughter-in-law after the infamous toe-sucking scandal.

In March 1992, just six years after their supposedly fairytale wedding, Andrew and Sarah announced they would be separating. It was a year that the late Queen Elizabeth would go on to describe as her ‘annus horribilis’, and with good cause.

Just five months after her and Andrew’s split, photographs emerged of her having her toes and feet sucked by Texan billionaire John Bryan, as she relaxed at her St Tropez holiday villa.

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Her straight-talking father-in-law, who’d previously shown support when she first joined the royal family, was reportedly appalled by the scandal, which he regarded as “simply beyond the pale”.

In an article for the Mail Online, broadcaster and writer Gyles Brandreth recalled a conversation he’d had with Prince Philip, in which the Duke made his thoughts on the matter crystal clear.

Brandreth remembered: “When I asked him [Prince Philip] why he wouldn’t see Sarah, he said: ‘I am not vindictive.’ Then, looking at me directly, he added emphatically: ‘I am not vindictive, but I don’t see the point’. That Andrew and Sarah appeared to remain friends after their separation — and that they shared a home even after their divorce — seemed to him ‘truly bizarre’.”

Although Sarah reportedly attempted to “mend bridges”, as the years went by, Philip’s ire towards her never cooled, and it was expected that she would be far away from the family’s annual Balmoral retreat by the time her ex-father-in-law arrived.

After Donald Trump made a controversial claim, former Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry, who was a child with polio, has publicly expressed her opinions.

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Following her polio-related childhood battle, celebrated baker Dame Mary Berry has revealed she won’t be drawn into debates about Donald Trump’s contentious vaccine remarks, but that she will be.

Trump made an unsupported claim earlier this year that autism is related to paracetamol use, which was later refuted by international medical organizations and professionals.

However, Trump’s powerful position allows for such assertions to quickly spread and have real-world repercussions despite lacking any factual support.

Medical professionals and influential political figures from around the world quickly refuted Trump’s claims about vaccines.

During an ITV appearance, Labour’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting declared: “I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this. I’ve just got to be really clear about this: there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None.

“So I would just say to people watching: don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine. In fact, don’t take even take my word for it, as a politician – listen to British doctors, British scientists, the [National Health Service].”

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The 90-year-old former Bake Off judge told Radio Times Magazine, “I am totally aware of what he]Donald Trump] said when discussing her position on vaccinations. Although I’m not getting involved, I’ll definitely receive all the vaccinations that are offered to me.

Mary, who left Bake Off in 2016, has openly discussed how she spent an extended hospital stay after learning she had polio when she was just 13-years-old.

Mary and her family were the subject of an ordeal that Mary described in her 2013 autobiography.

She responded, “I just couldn’t understand why Mum wasn’t coming in to comfort me and give me a cuddle.” They must have found it to be very upsetting.

However, the effects extended far beyond the parents’ inability to embrace her, with polio causing her spine to curve and leaving her with a weaker and less powerful arm and hand.

Despite what occurred, Mary says she was fortunate. She said: “I only had it on my left side and I’ve got a funny left hand. Everybody thinks I’ve got arthritis.

“I roll my pastry and have no other issues whatsoever, despite the fact that I look a little funny.” I mean, I wasn’t as good at sports as I was, but I was taken very lightly. I’m grateful”.

The polio jab was introduced in the UK in the 1950s and forms part of what the NHS describes as the “routine childhood vaccination schedule”.

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Mary’s support for getting her annual jabs comes after the NHS urges parents to get their kids vaccinated against the flu this half-term as doctors warn of rising cases. Duncan Barton, the country’s chief nursing officer, expressed his concern about the spread of the flu this year, particularly among young people who might have the potential to transmit it to their older relatives.

He expressed concern that the flu has become more prevalent in children this year and has already struck us. Flu can spread like wildfire throughout schools and cause serious illness in kids.

“Vaccination is the best way to protect your child from serious illness because the virus changes every year,” says the company. “We’re making it easier than ever for kids to get the vaccine close to home or at school.”

Minister of health Stephen Kinnock also emphasized the value of adults getting vaccines to protect themselves and others, saying, “I’ve just had the flu shot myself because I know how much it can make.”

In other news, Mary Berry is set to grace our screens once again in the first episode of ‘Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking’, airing tonight at 7.30pm on BBC Two.

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