Whoops! Sarah Ferguson makes an undignifed exit from a charity dinner as she trips over a manhole cover
There cannot have been a more timely reminder of the pitfalls of becoming a Royal princess.
As auspicious news came of Prince William and Kate Middleton's impending wedding at Westminster Abbey, the Duchess of York was busy showing us just how not to do the job.
Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of Prince Andrew, is pictured here tripping, apparently worse for wear, first over a manhole cover and then over her flowing gown as she made an undignified exit from a charity dinner.
Embarrassed: Fergie has a narrow escape, just missing an oncoming car, as she continues her journey
As she threw her arms aloft trying to regain her balance, a car screeched to a halt as she stumbled into its path.
She had walked out into the busy road - Park Street in London's Mayfair - without looking left or right for traffic as affluent guests busily left the dinner and were picked up by their drivers.
First she stumbled as her black stiletto shoe caught on a manhole cover in the road.
Her legs seemed to buckle beneath her but she made a miraculous recovery, perhaps after being given a sobering blast from the car's horn.
Then just three steps later her trailing right leg became entangled in the train of her purple gown, which only served to quicken her descent into the back seat of her waiting car on the far side of the road.
Moments earlier, the Duchess of York had stood with a PA outside the event at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London's Mayfair looking rather befuddled as her chauffeur started up her midnight blue Bentley Continental GT motorcar.
She had been guest of honour at the event to raise money for families and individuals with learning difficulties and social problems.
Also at the dinner were Simon Cowell and Philip Green.
This had been the Duchess of York's first public engagement since she poured embarrassment on the Royal Family by deciding to accept cash for access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew.
In May, Sarah, 50, accepted £27,000 from an undercover reporter posing as a businessman with the promise that it would secure an audience with her ex-husband, a trade envoy.
Explaining herself to US chatshow host Oprah Winfrey afterwards, she also spoke of being so short of money that she could not pay the rent on her home and admitted she had racked up huge debts by living beyond her means.
'I think I've been living trying to be the Duchess of York,' she told Winfrey.
'It's so difficult to explain. Living beyond my means? Yes. Trying to keep it up, keep me up, keep Sarah going.'
Asked how in debt she was, the Duchess said: 'Substantially. I haven't counted it up because I've been so grief-stricken I didn't know what to do.'
'I think I've got a huge uphill battle. That's why I must look at bankruptcy. I must look at all these situations now.
'I was spiralling so out of control I was looking for the quick fixes - places that I wouldn't normally look.'
The duchess was captured on videotape accepting £27,000 in cash as part of a down payment for securing access to her ex-husband.
She had struck a deal for a further £500,000 to be paid - unaware the wealthy businessman she was dealing with was an undercover reporter from the News of the World.
Heading home: Fergie gets into her car and heads home after an unfortunately eventful evening
After the scandal, the duchess offered to move out of the royal residence she still shared with Prince Andrew.
The state of the arrangement is now in question after the duchess checked into the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London's Knightsbridge on the day of the Grosvenor House dinner on Monday.
Though it is clear she didn't want to be seen enjoying such luxury.
Bizarrely, when the Mail attempted to photograph the duchess arriving back at the Mandarin after the dinner, her driver first started unpacking her designer Louis Vuitton bags from the boot of her Bentley, before apparently being told to stop doing so when cameras were raised.
The chauffeur then jumped back in the car and roared off with the duchess still on board.
The chauffeur then went on a 45-minute tour of 5-star hotels of London, presumably to find the duchess somewhere else fitting for her to stay.
The Bentley - with the duchess inside - drove off towards the five-star Grosvenor House where it stayed parked for 10 minutes while enquiries were apparently made within.
It then pulled away and circled past the five-star Dorchester before returning west in the direction of the Mandarin.
source:dailymail