Prince Williamwas left 'horrified and sickened' in London this week, insiders claim, after Sarah Ferguson suggested that the late Queen Elizabeth II's ghost speaks to her through the monarch's beloved corgis, a remark the heir apparent is said to regard as 'moronic' and disrespectful to his grandmother's legacy.
The news came after Ferguson, 66, appeared at the Creative Women Platform Forum and was asked about life with Muick and Sandy, the two corgis she and her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, took in after the queen's death in 2022. In an apparently light-hearted aside, she told the audience, 'I have her dogs... so every morning they come in and go, "Woof, woof" and I'm sure it's her talking to me.'
To some, it sounded like a harmless attempt at warmth. To Prince William, 43, it reportedly landed very differently. According to multiple sources quoted by OK!, the Prince of Wales felt the ghost comment risked trivialising the late queen's memory at a moment when the royal family has tried hard to project solemnity and restraint around her absence.
Those familiar with William's thinking say the heir apparent believed Ferguson's ghost claim crossed an invisible but important line. One insider said he was 'profoundly uneasy, and, frankly, horrified and sickened by Fergie's remark,' adding that he saw it as 'rather moronic and exploitative' because it turned 'something deeply private and meaningful into a light, almost offhand anecdote shared in a public forum.'
Another source described 'genuine astonishment and disbelief' on William's part at the breezy tone in which the line was delivered. In his view, they said, it 'struck an inappropriate note and didn't align with the measured, respectful tone the family has carefully tried to uphold since the queen's passing.'
The sensitivity is understandable. Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 aged 96, after seven decades on the throne. In the months since, the institution has been recalibrating itself around a new monarch, a new Prince and Princess of Wales, and a public that is noticeably less forgiving of royal missteps than in decades past. Against that backdrop, anything that looks even vaguely like using the late queen's memory for publicity is destined to set off alarms.
People close to Prince William say this is not just about a single ghost comment but about a broader approach he is trying to impose as he edges closer to the crown. He is widely expected to champion what has been dubbed a 'lean monarchy,' with a smaller, more disciplined core of working royals and far less tolerance for what one aide politely calls 'avoidable drama.'
'William has shown that he is willing to take firm, sometimes unpopular decisions if he believes they are necessary,' one source told OK! 'He tends to focus on the long-term health of the monarchy and is acutely aware that safeguarding the institution must come before personal sentiment.'
Another insider described a growing vigilance in the prince's circle about anything that might be seen as diminishing the dignity of the late queen's legacy. It is, they said, an issue he 'approaches with great seriousness, seeing it as a key responsibility as he prepares for his future role as king.'
If that is accurate, then Ferguson's ghost anecdote was always going to jar. She is not a working royal, has a long history of courting media attention, and sits at a distance from the carefully managed inner circle that William is said to be shaping. Her off-the-cuff remark landed squarely in the zone he is keen to police, stories about the queen delivered casually on stage, apparently designed to draw laughs and headlines.
Source: International Business Times UK
