Sarah Ferguson lost patronage from five charities after her email describing Jeffrey Epstein as a “supreme friend” surfaced, prompting backlash over her ties to the convicted sex offender.
Several charities announced on Monday that they were severing their links with Britain’s Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, following reports that she had called the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a “supreme friend” in an email.
Jeffrey Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to a state prostitution charge in Florida. According to The Guardian, Ferguson’s apology to Epstein came after an interview published in the Evening Standard in March 2011, in which she admitted making a “terrible, terrible error of judgment” in accepting £15,000 from the financier, a convicted sex offender, to pay off her debts. She added in the interview, “I abhor paedophilia.”
However, The Sun reported that Ferguson, the ex-wife of King Charles’s brother, Prince Andrew, had sent the apology message directly to Epstein in 2011, just weeks after stating in an interview that she would never contact him again. In that email, she described Epstein as a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend.”
The Telegraph quoted James Henderson, her spokesperson at the time, who revealed that the email was sent following a “really menacing and nasty” phone call from Epstein, who allegedly spoke with a “Hannibal Lecter-type voice.” Henderson described the call as chilling and said, “I’m surprised anybody was ever friends with him given the way he talked to me.”
He further explained, “He said he would destroy the York family and he was quite clear on that. He said he would destroy me. He wasn’t shouting. He had a Hannibal Lecter-type voice. It was very cold and calm and really menacing and nasty.”
Henderson 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’ decision to remove her patronage. He had previously stated that she sent the email to Epstein out of concern that he might sue her for defamation.
On Monday, five charities announced that the Duchess could no longer serve as their patron. 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. Similarly, firms and charities distanced themselves from him, CNN reported.
https://www.news18.com/world/five-charities-cuts-off-ties-with-britains-duchess-of-york-over-links-with-epstein-ws-l-9592562.html
