OK! Reveals the One 'Freebie' Ban That Has Left Sarah Ferguson 'In Floods of Tears'

OK! can reveal Sarah Ferguson is reeling after losing one of the last everyday perks of royal life – free airline upgrades – a small but deeply symbolic blow insiders tell us has left her devastated and in tears.

The latest upset comes amid a wider unravelling of 66-year-old Ferguson's position following the fallout from renewed scrutiny around her and her former husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's association with pedophile abuser Jeffrey Epstein. After King Charles, 77, stripped Andrew and Ferguson of their royal titles late last year the former duchess has been left navigating a far more ordinary – and expensive – reality.

Once accustomed to preferential treatment, Ferguson is now expected to pay her own way when flying, with airline bosses set to quietly make clear complimentary upgrades and favored seating are no longer on offer.

A source said the change has hit particularly hard. "Sarah always loved to travel and she loved a freebie even more," the insider added.

"Being able to fly comfortably without thinking about the cost made her feel connected to her old life, and losing that has really upset her."

The source also said the freebie flight upgrade ban has become an emotional tipping point. "It sounds trivial, but to Sarah it represents how far she has fallen," they went on. "She is having to face the fact that those days of automatic privilege are over, and she is genuinely heartbroken about it."

The loss of travel perks has unfolded alongside Ferguson's growing sense of abandonment by Queen Camilla, 78 – once one of her closest confidantes.

A palace source said: "Sarah genuinely believed that Camilla would offer some form of discreet backing to her, even if it was nothing more than being seen alongside her once. To Sarah, that kind of silent endorsement would have sent a powerful signal that she was not completely cast out. When it failed to materialize, it left her feeling ghosted, exposed and destabilized."

According to palace aides, Ferguson had viewed the friendship as her final connection to royal legitimacy.

Another source said: "Sarah was convinced that the decades of shared history between them still carried real value and would translate into some measure of loyalty. Instead, she has been met with silence, with no warning or reasoning, and has been left to process the public fallout on her own."

Camilla and Ferguson share a long social history, bonded through high society circles and a shared love of horses. Camilla was close to Ferguson's late mother, Susan Barrantes, and the two women crossed paths frequently long before their royal roles were formalized.

Ferguson herself said last year: "Queen Camilla was close friends with mum, which is why we're so close now."

But that closeness has always existed alongside tension, rooted in Ferguson's loyalty to Princess Diana, who died in 1997 at age 36.

In her 1996 memoir My Story, Ferguson wrote: "1991 was the year we first put words to the unspeakable idea that had been nudging us in the ribs for some time: That one or both of us might leave the royal family… we burned the phone wires into the night, trading secrets and jokes that no one else would understand."

Friends say the cumulative effect of losing status, income and even small luxuries has been profound.

"As time passes with no outreach and no sense of financial security, Sarah's frustration is intensifying," one said. "She does not want confrontation, but she will not accept being erased."

Another added: "She used to live for hopping on a plane, feeling looked after and welcomed. Now she is being told she will have to queue and pay like everyone else. That reality has been crushing, and has left her in floods of tears – and it is part of the reason those around her are saying she is now close to breaking point."