Sarah Ferguson faces 22 years in Turkish jail – Midnight Espresso?
SARAH Ferguson, the still styled Duchess of York, could go done for 22 years choky. The sticky fingers of adolescent guffaws are never far removed from Fergie, the toe-sucker who became Prince Andrew’s pimp and occupies a special place in the tabloids Order Of Hate, between Heather Mills (number 99 on the chart) and Rosemary West (a credible 22 – if only she were blonde). News is that the Turkish authorities have frowned upon Duchess and Daughters: Their Secret Mission, a documentary Sarah Ferguson made with ITV in 2008, in which the former member of the royal family “secretly” filmed in a Turkish orphanage.
Fergie used what she learnt when she and Princess Diana gatecrashed Prince Andrew’s stag party dressed as policewomen, and went in disguise to a State-run orphnage on the pretence of being a wealthy donor. (Andrew… Chequebook!).
A Turkish court pressed has pressed charges against her. The court in Ankara accused Ferguson of “going against the law in acquiring footage and violating privacy” of five children“.
The Mail says she could be jailed for as long as 22 and-a-half years in prison if convicted.
Ferguson has been looking for a raison d’etre and this might be it. A second career in journalism remain popular among the elite, sportsmen and celebs. Why, we can’t say. Maybe it’s the typing. Now it might be the suffrage.
A spokesman for the Duchess tells the Mail:
“The Duchess of York has fully co-operated with both the Turkish and British authorities at all times on this issue. British ministers refused to accede to the further requests for legal assistance from Turkey. From a UK perspective, the Duchess has been told by the Home Office that the case is closed. The action today reported by the Turkish authorities is news to all.”
A source adds, airily:
“Sarah is saddened that the Turkish Government’s actions are being allowed to overshadow a legitimate journalistic investigation into the appalling conditions in state-run orphanages in Turkey.”
Last night a Home Office source said:
“As it stands, she will not be extradited. The Turkish authorities have no power to do so.”
When Sarah Ferguson starred in The Duchess in Hull, a telly show in which she went to live with an underclass family on poor estate in the north, the adventure was not about surviving on a pittance – it was just about the format (posh and poor). Duchess and Daughters: Their Secret Mission was meant to be humanitarian campaigning. But Turkey has accused Ferguson of being “ill-intentioned” and trying to scupper its entry into the EU, which her spokeswoman denied. She said the duchess was “apolitical” and motivated by child welfare.
Nimet Cubukcu, a minister in charge of women and family affairs, told Turkey’s Anatolian news agency: “It is obvious that Sarah Ferguson is ill-intentioned and is trying to launch a smearing campaign against Turkey by opposing Turkey’s EU membership.”
A leaked diplomatic cable from David Miliband, then foreign secretary to Turkish foreign minister, Ali Babacan, in November 2008 assured the Turk:
“Miliband underscored to Babacan that Ferguson was no longer a member of the royal family and, as a private citizen, her activities could not ‘be controlled’.”
It’s all pretty incredible that Sarah Ferguson (WeightWatchers face /soap peddler / children’s books writer) should be considered so relevant and powerful. But reading through the blather, one thing stands out: Sara Ferguson is not lazy. She is a woman driven to make sidelines and a living from her status. Good for her. Next time the press focus on Fergie’s latest venture and attack her, asks yourself this: what’s Prince Edward up to?
Posted: 13th, January 2012 | In: Key Posts, Royal Family Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
