Fergie's multi-million dollar payout revealed

Despite claiming she was cut off by the royal family after her 1996 divorce from Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson in fact received a multi-million pound divorce settlement, a British newspaper has revealed.

The Duchess of York and her daughters were given around 3 million pounds ($6.38 million) by the royal family, unnamed royal sources told the Sunday Telegraph.

The settlement included 500,000 pounds ($1.06 million) for the Duchess to buy a house for her and her daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, 1.4 million pounds ($2.96 million) for a trust fund for the princesses and a 350,000 pound ($742,000) cash handout.

A further 500,000 pounds ($1.06 million) contributed to the princesses' private school and university fees and a modest monthly allowance for the Duchess, who was recently the target of a tabloid sting in which she offered to sell access to her former husband for 500,000 pounds ($1.06 million).

"The Duchess's claims are quite extraordinary," a senior courtier told the Telegraph. "She was treated extremely generously and she has now behaved appallingly."

Ferguson was not bound by a confidentiality clause like the late Diana, Princess of Wales, so was able to profit from her royal connections with an autobiography for which she earned 2.2 million pounds ($4.7 million), said the paper.

The Duchess is believed to have at least 1 million pounds ($2.1 million) of debt.

In other Fergie news, The Sun reported that the Duchess has tearily apologised to Prince Andrew for the "cash-for-access" scandal. Andrew reportedly told his former wife that the Queen and Prince Charles had both offered to support him, even if he chose to stick by his disgraced ex.

Meanwhile, the dilapidated state of the former home of the Duke and Duchess of York has brought further embarrassment to the royal family, reported the Telegraph.

Sunninghill Park was bought three years ago for 15 million pounds ($31.9 million) by Timur Kulibayev, a tycoon from Kazakhstan who is yet to move in. The modern house, that was derided for looking like a supermarket, has now fallen into disrepair. Kulibayev claims it was bought for investment purposes.

Kulibayev and Prince Andrew are thought to be good friends and share a taste in women - both have been linked to Goga Ashkenazi, who has had a child to Kulibayev and who told Hello! Magazine she loved Andrew "very much".

- NZ HERALD STAFF