Prince Andrew`s ex-wife sued by lawyers over debts

London: The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson is being taken to the High Court for debts of more than 200,000 pounds (more than USD 300,000) by a leading legal firm, says a report. Dailymail.co.uk reports that Prince Andrew`s ex-wife is being sued by Mayfair solicitors Davenport Lyons for work on a deal to turn her children`s books into an animated television series, which has since hit the buffers.

The firm also helped to create and protect a trademark under which the Duchess planned to market a range of `lifestyle` goods on satellite shopping channel QVC, which included biscuit tins and household furniture called `From the Heart With...`. It is understood that she plans to contest the case, but if she loses she could be declared bankrupt. Although she was once married to the Queen`s son, the Duchess is understood to have few assets of her own. She received just 300,000 pounds from her divorce, does not have a property in Britain and even her car is lent to her by an on-off boyfriend. According to the writ, obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail, eight invoices ranging from 12,000 pounds to 65,000 pounds were sent to `the defendant` between April and July last year. She is listed under her maiden name of Sarah Ferguson but gives her ex-husband`s 30-bedroomed official residence, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, as her address. Although the couple (Andrew and Sarah) divorced 14 years ago, they remain close and for the last few years Sarah has lodged with Andrew and their two daughters. Several reminders chasing the invoices were subsequently sent in the form of letters and emails but were all ignored, as was a request to discuss a `credible payment plan`. It wasn`t until October that she finally agreed to an initial payment of 30,000 pounds with a further 50,000 pounds to come. The cheque never materialised, however, and the following month Sarah admitted that she could only afford to hand over 10,000 pounds because she said she had been short-changed by her business partners. But she also attempted to smooth over the situation, claiming that she was `close to other ventures so we can keep to our word of getting some more money to you`. IANS