Sarah, Duchess of York January 1988, during the trip to New York to attend a fundraising event, the Duchess was attacked by a young man at the entrance of her hotel. The man, who was screaming "murderers 3/8" and had the Irish Republican Army flag in his hands when he rushed at Sarah, was "charged with attempted assault on the Duchess and assault on a federal agent". Later a State Department press officer stated that "she was unharmed in the incident". In March 1988, the Duke and Duchess of York visited California. The trip was described by two British newspapers as a "brash, vulgar,
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough offer financially, as his estates were deeply in debt. Sarah had a rival for Churchill in Catherine Sedley, a wealthy mistress of James II and the choice of Churchill's father, Sir Winston Churchill, who was anxious to restore the family's fortune. John may have hoped to take Sarah as a mistress in place of the Duchess of Cleveland, who had recently departed for France, but surviving letters from Sarah to John show her unwillingness to assume that role. In 1677, Sarah's brother Ralph died, and she and her sister, Frances, became co-heirs of the Jennings estates in Hertfordshire and Kent.