Her prolonged withdrawal from the public eye has fuelled intense speculation. Some suggested she was working on a third memoir; others claimed she was preparing a revelatory interview.
Last month, her spokesman confirmed: “Sarah Ferguson is not close to signing a multi-million dollar book deal as has been reported. She has no plans to write any tell all memoir.”
Mr McNally was the man in Ms Ferguson’s life before Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor entered the picture. Their relationship began after she was brought in to care for his two young sons, Sean and Rollo, following the death of his wife Anne in 1980. Romance developed, though he never proposed.
Working alongside F1 mogul Bernie Ecclestone, Mr McNally transformed corporate hospitality at racetracks worldwide through his creation of the Paddock Club, accumulating a fortune estimated at £600million.