Sarah Ferguson's reason for hiding from public view has been revealed by a family member. The former duchess was photographed in Austria this week where she is reportedly staying at a £2,000-a-night chalet in the mountains.

King Charles’s former sister-in-law was tracked down to her bolt-hole months after she was last seen in public at the christening of her granddaughter Athena, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's child.

Now, a cousin of Ferguson's by marriage has said she hid from view in a bid to protect her daughters, Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Asked why Ferguson had chosen to hide from public view, Martin Barrantes told the Daily Mail: "I have spoken to her [and] can tell you that she just wants to protect her children and her grandchildren."

Mr Barrantes said that he spoke to Ferguson three months ago to offer his support, adding she is going through a "difficult moment", but seemed "in good spirits".

He urged the public to remember the "real villain" is Jeffrey Epstein and he felt certain his cousin regretted the trust she placed in him.

Ferguson has faced calls to speak to authorities in the US about convicted sex offender Epstein after the release of millions of files on him shed new light on their relationship.

The documents include messages from Ferguson to Epstein, in one of which she praises him as the brother she "always wished for".

Another message sent after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting minors drag Ferguson's daughters into the scandal. One makes reference to Eugenie's "shagging weekend".

Ferguson in another appears to plead with Epstein to marry her, describing him as a "legend" before adding "I am at your service". Being included in the Epstein files is no indication of wrongdoing.

After the apparent closeness of the relationship emerged, Ferguson lost the title she retained as a courtesy following her divorce from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Epstein has been the downfall of her ex-husband, who was stripped of his titles by the King due to "serious lapses of judgment" over his friendship with the paedophile, who was found dead in a New York prison cell in an apparent suicide in August 2019.

Andrew has denied all wrongdoing. He was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in February, and later released under investigation. He has not been charged.

Ferguson has also been forced to find a new home and could move abroad permanently. Her cousin revealed that she is part owner of a large ranch in Argentina, where her mother lived.

Susan Barrantes left the UK in 1972 to live with the Argentinian polo player, Héctor Barrantes, in the South American country. She and Ferguson's father, Major Ronald Ferguson, divorced in 1974 and she married Barrantes the following year.