Amidst the alleged Chinese spy scandal that Prince Andrew is linked to, Sarah Ferguson is thought to have influenced her ex-husband's decision to not attend the Royal Family's Christmas celebrations at Sandringham.
'Sarah the Duchess of York has saved Christmas for the Royal Family,' Rebecca English said on Mail+'s Palace Confidential.
Sitting beside Diary Editor Richard Eden and Mail on Sunday's Charlotte Griffiths, Rebecca described how 'if it hadn't have been for his ex-wife having a quiet word in his ear,' the exact situation for this year's festivities and Andrew may still not be known.
The Prince voluntarily agreed to pull out of the celebrations with Fergie, MailOnline revealed earlier this week. The Duchess joined the family's festivities last year for the first time since 1992.
It came after it was revealed an alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, is said to have become a 'close' confidant of the Duke of York and has since been banned from entering the UK after an MI5 investigation.
Mr Tengbo has denied being a spy or doing anything illegal. He challenged his ban at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in July, but lost his appeal last week.
A statement from Prince Andrew's office said: 'The Duke of York followed advice from His Majesty's Government and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised.
'The Duke met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.'
Recently, the Daily Mail revealed that King Charles did not want to ban his brother and had hoped Andrew would 'do the decent thing' and choose not join the family at Sandringham, including the traditional Christmas Day church service and walkabout.
Rebecca shared how 'instrumental' Fergie had been with her ex-husband's situation.
'I've been told by sources on both sides of the fence that she has been instrumental in just being a small, still voice of calm in her dealings with her ex-husband and I've been told that the King does understand it's a very delicate situation,' she said.
The Royal Editor added: 'She has been very loyal to Andrew with all his difficulties over the years, but also to actually be fair to her, has been respectful to the King and the Queen and the late Queen Elizabeth.'
Fergie still lives with her ex-husband at Royal Lodge, despite being divorced since 1996.
Rebecca said: 'I think they very much appreciate and are grateful for her saying to Andrew, "look why don’t we just take a step back this year and see where the future lies".'
The couple's daughters, Princess Beatrice, 36, and Princess Eugenie, 34, had already decided spend the day with their in-laws instead of the Royals, as they have not done so in a few years.
'It sounds like they're going to be spending Christmas together on their own, like the couple they used to be,' Richard added. 'So maybe it's about time they got married again!'
Fergie has previously described her and Andrew as the 'happiest divorced couple in the world' and added that she 'hopes' the Prince still 'loves her' like she loves him.
Charlotte reflected on how Fergie said she was 'sort of' still looking 'after a sad man' like when she cared for her father, speaking in an interview with The Sunday Times before the recent scandal broke but published after.
Fergie added how she won't let her ex-husband down and that they both look after one another.
'I thought that was really touching as well because she's going to spend her Christmas alone without her daughters, just with Andrew out of pure loyalty,' Charlotte said.