Quite a lot of charities on Monday severed ties with Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, after British newspapers revealed an electronic mail that she reportedly wrote to the late convicted intercourse offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, describing him as a “supreme buddy.’’
Julia’s Home, a youngsters’s hospice, mentioned that the reported correspondence made it inappropriate for Ferguson, often known as the Duchess of York, to stay a patron.
A spokesman for Ferguson mentioned that she despatched an electronic mail on the recommendation of her legal professionals after Epstein threatened to sue her for associating him with sexual abuse in a media interview, Britain’s Press Affiliation reported.
“Following the data shared this weekend on the Duchess of York’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein, Julia’s Home has taken the choice that it could be inappropriate for her to proceed as a patron of the charity,’’ the charity mentioned.
“Now we have suggested the Duchess of York of this resolution and thank her for her previous help.”
Sarah Ferguson waves the to the gang was she attends the Easter Matins Service at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Fort, England, Sunday, April 20, 2025.
AP Photograph / Kirsty Wigglesworth.
A meals allergy charity, The Natasha Allergy Analysis Basis, and Forestall Breast Most cancers, have been additionally among the many charities that lower ties in mild of latest revelations. The Teenage Most cancers Belief, which had an affiliation with Ferguson for 35 years, additionally dropped her as a patron.
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The e-mail referred to a 2011 interview with the Night Commonplace newspaper by which she apologized for accepting 15,000 kilos from Epstein.
“I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of youngsters and know that this was a big error of judgment on my behalf. I’m simply so contrite I can not say,’’ Ferguson mentioned within the interview. “Each time I can, I’ll repay the cash and don’t have anything ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever once more.”
However the next month, Ferguson despatched an electronic mail to Epstein by which she “humbly apologized” for linking him to intercourse abuse, saying “you may have all the time been a steadfast, beneficiant and supreme buddy to me and my household,” The Solar newspaper reported over the weekend.
The Related Press couldn’t independently verify that the e-mail is genuine.
The story comes lower than a month after Andrew himself was criticized for staying in contact with Epstein for 5 years longer than beforehand claimed.
Leaked electronic mail correspondence between Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak indicated that the prince had been in contact with Epstein as late as 2015, the Instances of London reported.
Andrew informed the BBC in 2019 that he ceased all contact with Epstein in December 2010, after the late financier pled responsible to intercourse crimes in Florida.
Andrew and his ex-wife have confronted a sequence of scandals amid issues that the prince has tried to revenue from his royal standing.
He was compelled to surrender all royal duties and charity roles after the 2019 interview with the BBC by which he was criticized for attempting to attenuate his connections with Epstein and failing to point out sympathy for his victims. Final 12 months, it emerged {that a} suspected Chinese language spy had developed shut hyperlinks with Andrew, elevating issues about efforts to place undue affect on different members of the royal household.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
