Sarah Ferguson faces yet another setback as her latest children’s book has been shelved amid the ongoing scandal surrounding Prince Andrew’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein. This development adds to the challenges the former Duchess of York is currently navigating.

Originally set for release on October 9, “Flora and Fern: Kindness Along The Way” was announced through a press release in the Bookseller. Just last week, the book was listed for purchase starting November 20. However, it has since disappeared from availability online.

NielsenIQ Book Data confirmed to the BBC that the book has been officially marked as ‘withdrawn from sale’ at the publisher’s request. This decision reflects the wider repercussions of the controversy that has engulfed Ferguson and her family.

The 66-year-old Ferguson has been entangled in the scandal following leaked emails that revealed ongoing communication between her, her ex-husband, and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite their public disavowal of him.

Adding to the family’s turmoil, Prince Andrew was recently stripped of his royal title and relinquished the lease on the 30-room Royal Lodge, a property he had occupied for years under a nominal rent arrangement.

Mr Mountbatten-Andrew was sensationally stripped of his Prince title last month and also agreed to surrender the lease on the 30-room Royal Lodge, where he had been paying ‘peppercorn rent for decades.

In a brutal remark sources revealed Fergie, who lived with Andrew at the Grade II listed property for over two decades, ‘will make her own arrangements’ when it comes to her future. 

And amid the couple’s dramatic fall from grace, she was said to be ‘more on edge’, hunkering down at the Windsor mansion, ‘surrounded by Amazon deliveries’.

Sarah Ferguson (pictured in July 28) has been delivered another devastating blow after her children’s book is axed amid Prince Andrew’s controversy over his links with Jeffrey Epstein

Fergie’s book Flora and Fern: Kindness Along The Wayhas since been marked as ‘withdrawn from sale’ at the request of the publisher, NielsonIQ Book Date has said

Meanwhile, in October, Waterstones ‘moved’ the release of the book, but had no new concrete date for publication. 

At the time, a spokesperson for the bookseller had told the publication it had received no further communication with the publisher since. 

No reason has been given for the book withdrawal, however an industry source has told the BBC it ‘makes total sense commercially.’ 

Neill Denny, editor of the book trade news website Book Brunch, said: ‘You have to imagine it’s to do with the current controversies.

‘It’s not the right time to release a book by Sarah Ferguson.’ 

He believes Fergie’s publishers may ‘sit’ on the book for around six months to a year as they wait out the storming controversy in the hopes there will be a better release date. 

‘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.

Sarah’s former publishers were previously reluctant to comment when asked whether they planned on severing links with the disgraced former Duchess.

Pictured: Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten Windsor at Royal Ascot in 2019

Pictured: Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park where Andrew and Fergie have lived for decades

Harper Collins, which published two of her titles, the most recent being A Most Intriguing Lady in 2023, declined to comment but said both of her books remained available.

The Daily Mail has approached Sarah Ferguson’s representatives for comment. 

It comes as the disgraced former Duchess is said to be preparing to flee the UK and swap out Windsor for Princess Eugenie’s £3.6million mansion Portuguese mansion. 

Her daughter and her husband Jack Brooksbank are said to have prepared a ‘grand suite’ in their oceanfront villa for the 66-year-old to settle down after getting kicked out of Royal Lodge.

‘The word here is that Fergie will be arriving sometime in January’, one wealthy neighbour of Eugenie and Jack has said. 

Madonna, Scarlett Johansson and Nicole Kidman have property there with Ms Kidman reportedly applying for Portuguese residency after she split from her husband Keith Urban.

Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender and their two children spend months of the year at CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club, which is around a 90 minute drive south of Lisbon.

‘How long she’ll stay is anyone’s guess but if it’s a long-term move, I can guarantee she’ll fit well into the social scene. Scores of celebrities and stars have been snapping up properties in the area’, a source told the Daily Express of Fergie’s reported move.

The Daily Mail has asked a spokesman for Ms Ferguson to comment on the report. 

It comes after the Mail on Sunday exposed a bombshell email revealing how Fergie cynically lied when she publicly disowned vile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

It was just weeks after her public statement that she wrote him a gushing private message, describing disgraced Epstein as a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’ – confessing she only distanced herself from him to save her own reputation.

Following the revelation, Sarah was dropped by seven charities after ‘humbly apologising’ to Epstein after disavowing him amid his conviction for child sexual abuse offences.

The bombshell leaked email shows Sarah wrote to the convicted sex offender  in 2011 to apologised just weeks after telling the press she had cut all ties with him.

In an earlier interview that year, she described her involvement with Epstein, who had served time for soliciting prostitution from a minor, as a ‘gigantic error of judgment’.

The organisations who have since cut ties with the duchess include the Teenage Cancer Trust, which she had backed since 1990, the British Heart Foundation, children’s hospice charity Julia’s House and Prevent Breast Cancer.

A spokesman for Sarah previously said the email was sent to counter an aggressive threat Epstein had made to sue her for defamation.