Sarah Ferguson dated Formula One entrepreneur Paddy McNally between 1982 and 1985 – and their sex life was so noisy it kept F1 world champion James Hunt awake in a neighbouring hotel room
Sarah was a regular on the F1 circuit(Image: Andy Hone, LAT Imagesvia Getty Images)
Long before her relationship with Prince Andrew, as he was then known, Sarah Ferguson was the “thumping great Sloane” alongside motor racing entrepreneur Paddy McNally. After failing to achieve success on the circuit, McNally cleverly shifted into the Formula One hospitality sector and amassed a fortune estimated to be worth approximately £600million at the time of his death last week.
They were together between 1982 and 1985, although, even following their separation, Sarah maintained a cordial relationship with the former partner she nicknamed “The Toad.”
During their three years as a couple, their intimate life was notably vigorous, according to former F1 world champion James Hunt.
Hunt’s own romantic exploits are legendary, having allegedly been intimate with more than 5,000 women, including 33 British Airways stewards within a mere fortnight.
However, nothing, according to him, compared to what Fergie sounded like. McNally had temporarily worked as an assistant to the 1976 world champion, despite Hunt labelling him a “chancer,” and occasionally they had reserved adjacent hotel rooms.
She remained close to McNally after their split(Image: Sutton Images, Sutton Imagesvia Getty Images)
In the Daily Mail, Caroline Graham writes: “James told me he’d had the misfortune to stay in a hotel room next to Fergie and her lover during one of that season’s races and described her as ‘the loudest woman I’ve ever heard’.
“He was furious because her screams of passion had kept him awake all night,” Caroline added. “James would yell: ‘Oh Paddy! Oh Paddy!’ every time Fergie walked past. To her credit, she took it in good humour.”
Sarah had encountered the F1 “chancer” while working as a nanny for his two sons, Sean and Rollo. Despite him being approximately 22 years her senior, Sarah had allegedly harboured dreams of marriage, ultimately relinquishing that hope when, following three years together, McNally dismissed an ultimatum she presented at the 1985 Italian Grand Prix.
Following Sarah’s demand of “Marry me or else,” Hunt informed Caroline: “Of course, Paddy chose the ‘Or else’.”
James Hunt was a playboy racing driver of the old school(Image: Bernard Cahier, Getty Images)
However, the relationship concluded amicably. “Paddy always looked after Sarah, and at times over the past four decades she needed a lot of looking after,” a source revealed to The Sun.
“He never abandoned her in life and, even in his final days, he allowed her safe sanctuary at his home in Verbier.” McNally’s infamous Swiss ski chalet was referred to by insiders as “the cocaine castle.”
Sarah remarked about her former partner: “He taught me so much about life. “Whenever I wanted advice, I turned to him because he was so worldly wise. He seemed to have seen and done everything””.
McNally had valued Sarah for her royal connections – her father had served as polo manager, initially to the Duke of Edinburgh and subsequently, for numerous years, to Charles, Prince of Wales, now our current King. Several months following her separation from McNally, Sarah’s royal links strengthened considerably when she encountered Prince Andrew, at that time the nation’s most sought-after bachelor as second-in-line to the throne and a genuine war hero.
While both Andrew and Sarah’s standing has fallen sharply in recent years, they represented, for McNally, valuable connections within his social circle.