Duchess of York Scandal: Queen in Crisis Talks With Prince Andrew

May 25, 2010 — -- Royal watchers are keeping a close eye on the Duchess of York's mental state as Britain's royal family launches into damage-control mode after the bribery scandal involving Prince Andrew.

Sarah Ferguson remains in the United States while Prince Andrew has begun crisis talks with his mother, the Queen.

"Just lay low. That's what she should do," Daily Beast editor-in-chief Tina Brown told "Good Morning America."

But that may be difficult for Britian's mouthiest ex-royal.

"It's hard for her," Brown said. Plus, "she genuinely has to earn a living somehow."

Ferguson, who was married to Andrew for 10 years, was caught on tape by British tabloid News of the World, offering access -- "open doors," she called it -- to the prince for more than $700,000.

She has apologized for her "lapse in judgment" and admitted that she was once again deep in debt.

"She will make it through this, unless she does something really stupid," Majesty magazine's Ingrid Seward told "Good Morning America."

"She's got her children. It's just that when you start thinking maybe your children are better off without you," she said, trailing off.

"I'm just suggesting that Fergie is a very emotional, fragile girl."

Her offer to provide access to Prince Andrew, a scandal some are calling the worst for the royal family in years, has earned her the ire of many in her home country.

"I don't have enough money, I don't know if you have enough money, no one has enough money," one U.K. resident said. "So, no, I have no sympathy for her whatsoever."

Seward said, "It's just unbelievable that someone of Fergie's intelligence could even consider getting involved in taking money from somebody."

Some observers are questioning whether Andrew truly had nothing to do with the plan, as both Ferguson's and Andrew's spokespeople have claimed.

"So many of those, quote, 'minor royals,' end up selling their access or their name," Brown said.

But Brown called Ferguson, 50, "hopeless" with money and noted the difference between her and her close friend Princess Diana. The two divorced their princes the same year, but "Princess Diana was canny and sharp. ... She played that marital game like poker."

By contrast, Ferguson seemed to be "intimidated" by royal lawyers, Brown said, and settled for a tiny sum in the hopes of staying in the family's good graces.