ITV’s latest true-crime drama, The Lady, revisits one of the most shocking cases to emerge from the British royal family – which is quite the statement, given the many scandals they've faced over the years...
The series tells the story of Jane Andrews, a former dresser to Sarah Ferguson, the previous Duchess of York, whose life once appeared to embody aspiration and proximity to power. But behind the Palace glamour lay a much sadder reality: in 2001, Andrews was convicted of murdering her partner, Thomas Cressman, before fleeing the scene and sparking a manhunt. She would later allege Cressman had been abusive, and that she was struggling with her mental health.
Examining the tragedy under a new microscope, The Lady explores how a woman who moved in royal circles came to be at the centre of a brutal killing – and the media frenzy that followed.
Yet as viewers revisit the case through ITV’s dramatisation, one question lingers: where is the real Jane Andrews now?
Who is Jane Andrews?
Played by Mia Mckenna-Bruce in the series, the real-life Jane Andrews was born in 1967 to a working-class family from Grimsby and went on to become an upper-class dresser in the 1980s, for the Duchess of York.
As the Duchess’s dresser, she travelled internationally, attended high-profile events and moved within an elite social sphere far removed from her Lincolnshire upbringing. The position offered status, proximity to power and, for a time, the kind of fairytale reinvention that tabloid culture thrives on.
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After leaving her role in 1997, it is said that Andrews attempted to maintain the lifestyle she had grown accustomed to. Friends and former colleagues later described her as determined to marry into wealth. In 2000, she began a relationship with Thomas Cressman, a successful businessman – their union was volatile and marked by rows, particularly after Cressman reportedly made it clear he did not intend to marry Andrews.
In September 2000, Andrews killed Cressman by hitting him with a bat and stabbing him in the chest, later claiming he had tied, beaten and anally raped her before his death.
She told The Guardian from prison, "People at work would laugh and say, 'Tommy picks Jane up from work every night, isn't it sweet?' No, it wasn't. It was so I couldn't go out with anyone else. That's why I used to say, 'You push me back and forwards, Tom.' I never knew where I stood with him. In front of other people he was charming, but behind closed doors he wasn't."
Prosecutors said Andrews struck him after he tried to end the relationship, arguing the attack was fuelled by jealousy, rejection and rage at the collapse of the affluent future she believed was within reach. Andrews claimed she had acted in self-defence, alleging abuse, but the jury rejected her account.
In 2001, Andrews was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, bringing a dramatic and brutal end to a trajectory that had once placed her at the heart of Britain’s royal inner circle.
Where is Jane Andrews now?
Andrews was convicted of murdering her partner, Thomas Cressman, in 2001 after a four-week trial in 2001, and was handed a life sentence. A judge told Andrews she would have to serve a minimum of 15 years behind bars, but in 2009, she absconded from HMP East Sutton Park in Kent, sparking another police search before being located in a nearby Premier Inn.
In 2015, Andrews was released on licence following an appeal but in 2018 said licence was revoked and she returned for another stint in prison, after allegations that she had harassed a former partner. Police investigated but did not charge her and she was re-released in August 2019.
While in prison, Andrews expressed remorse for the murder of Cressman, stating to press: "I've caused all this heartache and grief to so many people and there is absolutely nothing I can do about that. To even say the word 'sorry' is so feeble, insignificant. But I am. I'm a much stronger person now, and if I was given the chance I could talk about things that I was incapable of talking about at the trial.
"That doesn't mean I'm trying to blame anyone else for Tom's death. I was responsible and I have to live with that every second of my life. I just want people to understand what has happened and hopefully make some sense of it."
Unverified recent reports suggest Andrews may now work in an animal-care environment.
Speaking about ITV's The Lady, Harriet Wistrich, CEO of Centre for Women’s Justice, who represented Andrews during her 2003 appeal, said, "Jane Andrews was convicted of the murder of Tom Cressman over 25 years ago. She long ago served her prison sentence and has attempted to move on, but due to her past employment with the now discredited section of the Royal family, she continues to be the subject of media interest, intensified each time when yet another one-sided TV programme is made about her case.
"Jane has not contributed to ‘The Lady’ despite it purportedly being about her life, nor has she contributed to any of the previous multiple TV documentaries made about her. The public are thus presented with a one-sided view that fails to explore why a vulnerable woman in her circumstances may have been driven to kill."
Wistrich added, "Like many other women I have represented and we have campaigned for, the prosecution case and media coverage can distort the underlying story, relying on sexist tropes such as 'fatal attraction killer' and 'gold hunter'.
"Yet we know in many such cases there is an underlying and sometimes hidden history of abuse and control [...] our greater understanding of coercive control and its impact on those with underlying mental health vulnerabilities could well assist Jane Andrews in a fresh appeal, should she wish now to explore one."
