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He is known to loathe his former daughter-in-law and cannot normally stand to be in the same room as her following the scandals that wrecked her marriage more than two decades ago.
But now 97, he has retired and was not at the races, leaving the way clear for Fergie, still titled Sarah, Duchess of York, to bask in her moment in the sunlight.
It was the first time for many years that Fergie, 58, had set foot in the royal box in the presence of the 92-year-old monarch and she could not hide her glee.
she was taken in by her Princess Beatrice, 29, after waving extravagantly at her former mother-in-law and performing the deepest curtsy imaginable as the Queen went by in the royal carriage procession.
The Queen looked genuinely pleased to see her and grandmother, granddaughter, and former daughter-in-law shared a giggle together.
On the lawn at Ascot before her foray into the royal box Fergie awaited the Queen’s arrival by horsedrawn carriage at the side of her ex, Prince Andrew, who doffed his top hat as his mother passed.
The Duchess, wearing a navy Roland Mouret dress, Philip Treacy hat and Rene Mancini shoes, fidgeted with Andrew’s buttonhole while Beatrice, in a pale grey dress by The Fold, a Sarah Cant hat, and Russell and Bromley shoes, stood alongside them.
For the past four years Fergie has followed a routine of attending Royal Ascot with her ex-husband and one or more of their two daughters, normally on the Friday, the quietest day of the five-day meeting.
She has lunch with them in the Royal Enclosure and stands with them on the lawn to curtsy to the Queen but then sits in the Ascot Authority hospitality box, which adjoins the royal box and has a connecting door.
In previous years the rest of her family have passed easily between the two but Fergie has stayed firmly in the Ascot box and has made sure to keep a respectable distance from the sovereign.
This year at last she passed through that door into paradise.
The welcome she received from the Queen reflects how, as a devoted grandmother anxious to keep Beatrice and Eugenie happy, she has done her best to maintain good relations with her ex-daughter-in-law, inviting her to Balmoral for summer breaks.
Philip has proved reluctant to forgive and forget but he is likely to be in the same room when Fergie’s other daughter Princess Eugenie, 28, marries her long-term boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, 32, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on October 12.
And his son Andrew, 58, has remained remarkably close to his ex-wife.
He and Fergie share Grade II listed Royal Lodge at Windsor.
The Duchess has described them as “the happiest divorced couple in the world” and there has even been talk of them remarrying.
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