ITV is back with yet another true crime drama this month – and this time it’s telling the story of one of the biggest society scandals Britain has ever seen. The subject? Jane Andrews, a former aide, dresser and confidante to Sarah Ferguson (then the Duchess of York), who was convicted of murdering her boyfriend years after she worked at Buckingham Palace. 

While the events took place in the late-1990s and early-2000s, it is, nevertheless, an inauspicious time to release a drama featuring Ferguson, given recent revelations about her relationship with sex offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. As a result, Natalie Dormer, who plays Ferguson, has chosen not to promote the show. She told Variety last year: “When I agreed to take the role in The Lady, I knew portraying the script’s Sarah Ferguson would require nuance. People are layered, their journeys are full of highs and lows, and as an actor, my job is to lean into those elements and bring them to life with honesty and empathy. 

“Since completing the project, new information has come to light that makes it impossible for me to reconcile my values with Sarah Ferguson’s behavior, which I believe is inexcusable. For that reason, I will not be taking part in the promotion of the project.

Sarah Ferguson and Jane Andrews leaving London Heathrow in 1994. Image: Alamy

“In keeping with my commitment to the wellbeing of children, I have donated my entire salary from this project to the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) and the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (hosted by Barnardo’s).”

The four-part drama, from the producers of The Crown, aired its first episode last night, while the remaining three are available to stream on ITVX. There have been several shows documenting the rise and fall of Andrews (played by Mia McKenna-Bruce in the new ITV series), and her prison sentence (a new one by Disney+ is reportedly in the works) but, as with The Crown, The Lady claims to be ‘partly fictionalised’ – so take everything you see with a pinch of salt. Here, we delve into Andrews’ true rags-to-riches story, her murder conviction and where she is now. 

Who is Jane Andrews? 

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Jane Andrews in The Lady. Images: ITV

Born in Lincolnshire in 1967 to a working class family, Andrews grew up in the seaside town of Grimsby. Her parents, a joiner and a social worker, were always arguing and in debt, and Andrews later recalled searching every inch of her home for spare cash to afford a loaf of bread. 

From adolescence, she was a mentally unstable woman. Throughout her fraught teenage years, she struggled with depression, panic attacks, and an eating disorder; at 15, after her mother found out about her truancy, she attempted suicide and would later be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.

She left school and enrolled in a fashion course at the Grimsby College of Art, before starting her first job designing children’s clothes at Marks & Spencer at age 21. It was while she was at work that she spotted an anonymous job advert for a personal dresser printed in The Lady magazine. Andrews applied and six months later, in 1988, was interviewed by Ferguson. Within four days of the interview, she was working at Buckingham Palace on a salary of £18,000 – equivalent to £62,000 today. 

The royal dresser who loved the high life

With more money than she ever imagined, Andrews was suddenly living the life she’d once read about in The Lady. She earned the nickname ‘Fergie’s bird’ and, at her murder trial, was described as a social climber and power player obsessed with the upper classes. Andrews worked for Ferguson during her pregnancy with Princess Beatrice and allegedly did everything in her power to become Fergie; she started talking in the same accent, dressing in the same way and even copied her vivid red hair colour. Ferguson apparently became acutely aware of Andrews’ new look and nicknamed her ‘Lady Jane’. 

Within a few years, Andrews had a new flat in Battersea Park, new friends among the upper echelons of society and a new husband: Christopher Dunn-Butler, an IBM executive 20 years her senior. The couple split five years after marriage; Andrews said it was because of pressures at work while Dunn-Butler claimed it was down to her consistent infidelity. 

Following her divorce, Andrews dated Dimitri Horne, the son of a Greek shipping magnate. After a bitter breakup, she trashed the flat they shared, fell into a deep depression and attempted suicide by overdose but survived. 

Andrews’ relationship with Ferguson began deteriorating when the pair became linked to Tuscan aristocrat Count Gaddo della Gherardesca. Ferguson was allegedly having an affair with him – but he supposedly also had feelings for Andrews. Shortly after, in 1997, Andrews was dismissed from her job as the then Duchess' royal dresser. Some believe it’s because of this awkward love triangle, but Buckingham Palace stated Andrews lost her job because of cost-cutting measures. 

Her relationship with Thomas Cressman

Ed Speelers plays Thomas Cressman in The Lady.

Andrews was reportedly inconsolable after she lost her job at the palace, which left her societal status and career in tatters. However, love looked like it could come to the rescue in 1998, when she was introduced to stockbroker and high society businessman, Thomas Cressman, by a mutual friend. Andrews fell head over heels and reportedly became obsessed, viewing this relationship as her last chance to regain her footing among the upper classes; a status that would be cemented should she and Cressman get married and have children. She moved into his Fulham flat shortly after they started dating and landed a role in PR for Claridge’s, but was fired two months later. 

Things went from bad to worse for Andrews; two years into their relationship, Cressman revealed he had no intention of marrying her. He broke the news while the couple were on holiday together at his family’s French villa in September 2000 – a break during which Andrews was expecting a proposal. The couple returned to the Fulham flat on 17 September and began to argue. Cressman allegedly phoned the police to say that “somebody is going to get hurt” but no officers arrived. Later that night, while Cressman was sleeping, Andrews hit him with a cricket bat and then stabbed him.

Andrews fled the bloody scene immediately, texting friends to ask where Cressman was in an attempt to create an alibi. She was on the run for four days before police found her overdosed in her car in Cornwall; she survived and was charged with murder, with the media painting her as a scorned woman. Six months after her arrest, Andrews told a jury at the Old Bailey that Cressman was abusive and tried to injure her. After 12 hours of deliberation, she was sentenced to life in prison.

Where is Jane Andrews now? 

Nine years into her life sentence, Andrews escaped from East Sutton Park Prison in Kent and was found in a hotel with her family three days later. She was not charged with absconding but was never considered for early release. In 2015, she was released on licence to a probation hostel but, three years later, was accused of harassing a former lover and was recalled to prison. She was finally re-released in 2019 and now goes by Jane Lamb. 

The Lady series writer Debbie O’Malley told Tatler: “When Jane Andrews was tried for the murder of Thomas Cressman in 2001 it made headlines around the world. But behind those headlines, lay a much more complex, painful and thought-provoking story – an exploration of female ambition and human frailty and a devastating chain of events that ended in the taking of a man’s life.” 

The Lady is available to stream now on ITVX. 

Read more: Love Story: The true tale of John F Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s doomed romance