Here’s another piece I forgot to put up earlier about my favourite knight of the realm.
[quote=“The Sunday Mirror”]
Tony’s my Knight in shining armour
ROYAL outcast Sarah Ferguson has an unlikely saviour - Ireland’s richest man, billionaire businessman Sir Tony O’Reilly.
The strange friendship between the Duchess of York and the Irish tycoon helped turn Fergie into one of America’s greatest success stories.
The disgraced duchess battled her way back from financial ruin thanks to her contracts with WeightWatchers and Waterford/Wedgewood - both of which were handed to her by mega-rich O’Reilly.
Now Fergie admits the head of Heinz masterminded her transformation from podgy princess to sleek businesswoman.
"Tony O’Reilly believed in me, Weight-Watchers took me on and the American people embraced WeightWatchers and myself.
“He was my saviour.”
To combat her unhappiness, she took extravagant holidays and threw lavish parties at Sunninghill, the Berkshire home she shared with Andrew, but public opinion against her grew - and so did her debts.
One pal said: “She thought that becoming a princess meant she didn’t have to worry about writing cheques and having to put money into the bank to meet those cheques.”
She owed EUR6 million - including EUR4.5 million to the Queen’s bankers Coutts.
She finally turned to pal Sir Tony for help and on his advice she quit her life in Britain and fled to America.
The unlikely pair have been friends for years, holidaying together in Tony’s west Cork hideaway in beautiful Glandore.
He even lent his luxurious Bahamas villa in Lyford Key to Fergie and Andrew and their daughters for a family holiday for an Easter break a few years ago.
Sir Tony has nothing but praise for his royal chum: “She is an articulate person, greatly admired in America. She has brought a whole new wave of prosperity to both WeightWatchers and Wedgewood.”
Ex-Ireland rugby hero Sir Tony is Ireland’s richest man, who along with his wife, Chryss, Goulandris, is worth nearly EUR2 billion.
And almost everything the brilliant businessman touches turns to gold.[/quote]