Sarah, Duchess of York the Duchess would no longer carry out public engagements on behalf of the Queen. Furthermore, the Queen announced in a statement that she would not take responsibility for Sarah's debts. In August 1992, surreptitiously taken photographs of the Duchess sunbathing topless with John Bryan, an American financial manager, were published in the British tabloid "Daily Mirror". The Duchess endured widespread public ridicule contributing to her further estrangement from the British royal family. In 1995, Prince Andrew's aunt Princess Margaret, who had received a bouquet of flowers sent by Sarah, reportedly wrote in a letter to the Duchess: "You have done
Sarah, Duchess of York also descends from Lady Anne Palmer. Lady Anne was the eldest child of Royal mistress Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland; she was acknowledged by King Charles II and adopted the surname "Fitzroy". She has aristocratic ancestry, being the great great-granddaughter of the 6th Duke of Buccleuch, a great-granddaughter of the 8th Viscount Powerscourt and a direct descendant of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn and of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, making her a distant cousin of her former husband Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and also of Diana, Princess of Wales. Her paternal grandmother was Marian Montagu Douglas