Explained: The longstanding feuds between Sarah Ferguson and Prince Philip as Duchess is invited to Sandringham

Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson will reportedly be attending her first royal Christmas at Sandringham in 30 years.

The Duchess of York, 63, has long been kept away from the annual event since splitting from ex-husband Prince Andrew in 1992.

It is understood that she was uninvited to the Christmas gathering largely due to a scandal in the early 90s where she was caught on camera having her toe sucked by financial adviser John Bryan.

Since then, Fergie has endured a somewhat fractured relationship with her in-laws, perhaps best displayed by her relationship with the late Prince Philip.

People World takes a look back at Prince Philip and Fergie’s relationship in light of her now receiving a Christmas invite.

Prince Philip is thought to have been deeply upset by the news of Fergie’s scandal and her divorce from Andrew despite her being one of his favoured daughter-in-laws previously.

But despite the Queen being able to bury the hatchet, it seems Philip retained a deep grudge.

The two had not been pictured together in family portraits for decades but with Philip’s well-documented love of aviation, he was surely more than impressed initially by the Duchess being able to fly a plane and owning a helicopter pilot licence in 1987.

As reports of infidelity from both Fergie and Andrew began to hit the tabloids in the early 1990s, it seems things began to change.

While strained marriages are nothing new in the royal family, it seems Prince Philip was less than impressed with Fergie’s antics making frontpage news.

Fergie retained her titles after the divroce, but existed in a somewhat ‘grey-area’ of the Firm.

While she was forced to earn a living through other means - such as TV appearances - Andrew and Ferguson have lived together for a number of years over the last two decades and have even been on holiday together.

But the relationship with Prince Philip seemed much harder to reconcile. A famous story emerged in 2013 when Fergie was surprisingly invited back to Balmoral with her ex-husband.

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However, she was reportedly told to leave once Prince Philip arrived. Other previous encounters have emerged where Philip is said to have avoided Fergie ‘like the plague’.

Fergie was also snubbed at Prince William’s wedding despite attending Prince Harry and Meghan Markles more recent wedding celebrations.

Things seem to have been repaired somewhat by Princess Eugenie’s wedding as Prince Philip and Ferguson were pictured together in a family portrait next to each other for the first time in 26 years.

And for this Christmas, reports have quoted a Sandringham source who revealed a farm house is being prepared for Fergie and Prince Andrew to stay at with their two daughters.