The Duchess of York has blamed alcohol for the promises she made for access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew in exchange for money.
Secretly filmed News of the World footage appears to show the Duchess, 50, offering a reporter access to the Duke of York, the UK's unpaid Special Representative for International Trade and Development, in return for £500,000 ($A850,000).
And in a sensational interview with the queen of US chat shows, Oprah Winfrey, Fergie says she had been drinking before the set-up.
A clip from the interview, to be aired tomorrow, has been released which shows Sarah Ferguson claiming she was "in the gutter" when she was caught out.
In the footage released to People magazine, she tells Winfrey: "I haven't faced the devil in the face because I was in the gutter at that moment."
"So I'm aware of the fact that I've been drinking, you know, that I was not in my right place."
Ferguson also claims she is yet to see the full video of her meeting with the reporter.
Although shunned and derided by elements of the British press, Ferguson has always been more warmly treated in the US, with promotional activities there supplementing her annual £15,000 divorce settlement.
