The negative headlines about Sarah Ferguson's (63) ex-husband Prince Andrew (63) may have subsided in the meantime. But now another man in her environment is apparently involved in a far-reaching scandal: US billionaire Trammell Crow (72), with whom "Fergie" is said to be friends according to the "DailyMail", faces serious allegations. Accordingly, the Texas entrepreneur is accused of having financially supported a sex ring.

Corresponding allegations are said to be in court documents that have been filed in the US state of California. According to the report, two women said they were victims of the sex trafficking ring, which received "necessary financial support" from Crow.

His lawyer vehemently denied the allegations to The Sun. These are "absurd and obviously wrong". A Ferguson spokesman said: "The Duchess only met Mr Crow once in the presence of others to discuss environmental issues." So the two are not friends and "Fergie" has no intention of seeing Crow again.

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, is currently primarily looking to promote her new book. During her promotional tour of the United States, she also spoke about her disgraced ex-husband. "We're here for each other," she said as a guest on the TV show Good Morning America. "When I was going through tough times in the past, Andrew has always been there for me. He's extremely kind and he's a great grandfather."

Together with her daughters Beatrice (34) and Eugenie (32), she had to witness "the decline of a very strong man", which was "difficult to watch" for all of them. "But you can't go on every journey. That's your journey."