THE Duchess of York's debts have soared to £3 million, it was, reported last night.
The claim by the Sun newspaper came hours after it became clear that the Duchess faced a future without cash handouts from Queen Elizabeth.
The queen has refused to bail out her spendthrift daughter in law from a seven figure cash nightmare.
It also emerged that the globe trotting Duchess of York is off on her travels again. A charity the Duchess started in the United States I3 months ago announced last night that she will attend a fundraising event in Connecticut on Saturday.
According to the Sun, which 24 hours earlier reported that the Duchess's debts were at least £1 million, Fergie is fighting a battle to avoid ruin, facing interest charges of £1,726 a day.
Buckingham Palace was last night not commenting on the latest estimate of the Duchess's debts.
"The queen has made generous provision to the Duchess of York over a number of years," a Palace spokesman said earlier yesterday. "Management of her financial affairs is the duchess's responsibility," he added.
Asked if the queen was going to help clear the duchess's overdraft the spokesman said: "No. The Duchess of York's business ventures are not a matter for the queen.
The duchess's debts are generally put down to her lavish life style. Despite limited provision from her estranged husband, Prince Andrew, a £2 million separation settlement and the income from her Budgie the Helicopter cartoon character, she has not been able to make ends meet.
The Duke of York pays her an allowance of £15,000 a year and picks up the £10,000 bill for their, daughters' education.
The duchess said yesterday: "The truth is I am making cutbacks, huge ones. But nobody can say that I use any of my charity money for personal use because it would simply not be true. You know the truth is I always pay my way.
The Sun report, attributed to "royal sources", claims that the duchess had to see the royal bankers Coutts and Co three times over her high spending. The bank has agreed not to bounce her cheques so she can pay the £7,000 a week wages of her staff, the paper claims.