Sarah Ferguson lost patronage from five charities after her email calling Jeffrey Epstein a “supreme friend” surfaced, prompting backlash over her ties to the convicted sex offender.
Several charities on Monday severed their links with Britain’s Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, following reports that she had described the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a “supreme friend” in an email. Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to a state prostitution charge in Florida.
The Guardian reported that Ferguson’s apology to Epstein came after an interview published in the Evening Standard in March 2011, in which she admitted that she had made a “terrible, terrible error of judgment” in accepting £15,000 from the financier, a convicted sex offender, to pay off her debts. She had also stated, “I abhor paedophilia.”
According to The Sun, Ferguson, ex-wife of King Charles’s brother, Prince Andrew, sent the apology message to Epstein in 2011, weeks after giving an interview where she said she would never contact him again. In her apology email, she described Epstein as a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend.”
The Telegraph reported that James Henderson, her spokesperson at the time, said the email was sent following a “really menacing and nasty” phone call from Epstein, who allegedly had a “Hannibal Lecter-type voice.” Henderson described the call as chilling and recalled how Epstein threatened to destroy the York family and himself. He said, “He wasn’t shouting. He had a Hannibal Lecter-type voice. It was very cold and calm and really menacing and nasty.”
He added: “The pressure she was put under to protect her family must have been huge. I am sure there were legal actions. And this was long before the duke’s life had been ruined by his association with Epstein. It was 14 years ago and everyone will do what they have to do to protect their family. Her family and children will always come first for her.”
According to CNN, Ferguson’s former spokesperson declined to comment on the charities’ actions but had previously stated that she sent the email to Epstein because she wanted to counter the threat of possible defamation lawsuits.
On Monday, five charities announced that the Duchess could no longer serve as one of their patrons. Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, founders of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, said in a statement: “We were disturbed to read of Sarah, Duchess of York’s, correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein. She was a patron but, in light of the recent revelations, we have taken the decision that it would be inappropriate for her to continue to be associated with the charity.”
In 2022, Prince Andrew was stripped of most of his titles and removed from royal duties due to his connections to Epstein, while firms and charities also distanced themselves from him, CNN reported.
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