Sarah Ferguson forced to get rid of £1.5m gift that she never got to use
Sarah Ferguson received a magnificent present from the late Queen Elizabeth that she was forced to give up.
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Sarah Ferguson(Image: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Sarah Ferguson was known to have a close relationship with the late Queen Elizabeth II, so much so that Her Majesty gifted Fergie with a 1.5m home in Surrey for her and her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie to live in, as part of her divorce settlement to Prince Andrew in 1996.
Originally built in 1740, Birch Hall is a sprawling estate located in a charming village in Surrey. The property was a pad mosy could only dream of, boasting seven bedrooms, five acres of land, an outdoor heated swimming pool, and even a tennis court.
Despite the generous gesture from the late monarch, the Duchess of York reportedly refused her gift as she would be unable to keep up with the huge maintenance costs. As a result, the house stayed empty for two years until it was sold for £1.5m in 1999, the Express reports.
Instead, the family continued to reside together at Sunninghill Park, before Sarah Ferguson and her ex-husband Prince Andrew moved into the Royal Lodge in Windsor, where they still stay.
After Sarah rejected Birch Hall, it was sold in 1999 and estate agents said it was “due to a change of circumstance” as reported by The Sun.
It is believed that the money from the sale was placed in a trust for Eugenie and Beatrice to use when they were older.
Birch Hall was listed on the market for £4.2m in 2016 after being renovated with even more impressive features than it originally had.
Its latest owners added a media and games room, an orangery, and a home gym.
Andrew Russell from estate agency Strutt and Parker told the Daily Mail : “The owners bought it from the trustees acting for the Queen in 1999.
“The trustees bought it in 1997 for the princesses and I imagine it was chosen because it’s a pretty house in a popular village and the gardens are a real draw, it’s more like parkland. But they never moved in.”
The estate agent also explained that when Birch Hall went up for sale in 2016, it was the “best of north Surrey’s village houses”.
He added: “There’s not that many that come on the market. It’s a proper country house with five acres of grounds.
SOURCES Sarah Ferguson forced to get rid of £1.5m gift that she never got to use – Daily Record
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