Additional Coverage:
- Sarah Ferguson Dropped From Multiple Charities After Controversial Jeffrey Epstein Email Resurfaces (usmagazine.com)
Several charities have severed ties with Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, following the resurfacing of a controversial email she sent to Jeffrey Epstein. Julia’s House, a children’s hospice charity, was the first to announce the end of its partnership with the Duchess earlier this week. Several other organizations, including the Teenage Cancer Trust, the British Heart Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity, and Prevent Breast Cancer, followed suit on Monday.
The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation also confirmed that the Duchess is no longer associated with the charity. In a statement, the foundation’s co-founders expressed their concern over the Duchess’s correspondence with Epstein, stating that her continued involvement would be inappropriate.
The controversy stems from an email reportedly sent by Ferguson to Epstein in 2011, weeks after she publicly distanced herself from him. The email, published by two newspapers, reportedly described Epstein as a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend.”
A spokesperson for the Duchess has clarified that the email was sent on the advice of legal counsel in response to a defamation lawsuit threatened by Epstein. The spokesperson reiterated Ferguson’s regret over her association with Epstein and emphasized her condemnation of his actions.
They stated that the Duchess stands by her previous public statements and that the email was an attempt to mitigate Epstein’s legal threats.
This incident contrasts with Ferguson’s previous statements in March 2011, where she admitted her involvement with Epstein was a “gigantic error of judgment” and condemned his actions. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.