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 Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough of Somerset, "I have reduced the stables to one third of what was intended by Sir John [Vanbrugh] yet I have room for fine horses." She allowed only two features of extravagance: the Marlboroughs' tomb in the Blenheim chapel, designed by William Kent; and the Doric Column of Victory in the park designed by Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, and finished by Roger Morris. The latter rose to a height of , complete with fine embellishments. The Duchess carefully monitored the construction of all Blenheim's features, and she fell out with anyone who did not do exactly what she