Noor NanjiCulture reporter
Getty ImagesSarah Ferguson’s new children’s book, which had already been delayed, has now been withdrawn from sale, according to analytics firm Nielsen.
Flora And Fern: Kindness Along The Way was initially due to be published on 9 October, according to a press release in Bookseller.
As of last week, it was showing as being available from 20 November on Amazon, but it is now no longer listed on the website.
NielsenIQ Book Data confirmed to the that the title had been marked as “withdrawn from sale” at the request of the publisher. Ms Ferguson’s representatives declined to comment.
Her publisher, New Frontier Publishing, has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Ms Ferguson, 66, lost her duchess title when her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, relinquished use of his Duke of York title over his links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Since then, Andrew has also lost his prince title.
Last month, Waterstones bookstores told News that the publication date for Flora And Fern: Kindness Along The Way had “moved” and that they did not have a new publication date.
A spokesperson for Waterstones said they had had no further communication from the publisher since then.
No reason has been given for why the book has now been withdrawn from sale.
But one industry source told News that the decision “makes total sense commercially”.
“You have to imagine it’s to do with the current controversies,” said Neill Denny, from the book trade news website Book Brunch.
“It’s not the right time to release a book by Sarah Ferguson.”
Mr Denny said the publisher may decide to “sit on it” for six months or a year, hoping for a better time to put it out.
“It’s not the sort of book that’s going to age, and you’re not risking a lot of money by holding it back,” he said.
Getty ImagesMs Ferguson’s other publishers have remained tight-lipped when asked whether they plan to sever links with her.
Harper Collins, which has published two of her titles, the most recent being A Most Intriguing Lady which came out in 2023, previously declined to comment but pointed to the fact that both her books remain in print and available.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, and Ms Ferguson, are due to move out of his Windsor estate, Royal Lodge.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor will move to the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk. It is not yet clear where Ms Ferguson will go.
On Friday, the Daily Mail reported that she is preparing to move in with her daughter Princess Eugenie in her Portugal home, although there has been no official confirmation of this. Ms Ferguson’s representatives declined to comment on these reports.
Ms Ferguson has also faced a separate scandal about her own links with Epstein.
In September, several charities dropped her as patron or ambassador after an email from 2011 revealed that she called Epstein her “supreme friend” and seemed to apologise for her public criticism of him.
Away from her philanthropic work, Ms Ferguson has various business ventures, and has written several children’s books, non-fiction about Queen Victoria, and her own memoirs.
