Sarah Ferguson Dropped from Charities After Alleged 2011 Email to Jeffrey Epstein Surfaces

Seven charities have cut ties with the Duchess of York after a 2011 email surfaced showing she called convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein her "supreme friend" and appeared to apologise for publicly criticising him, reigniting controversy over her past connections to the disgraced financier.

Seven charities have severed ties with the Duchess of York after a 2011 email revealed she referred to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as her "supreme friend" and appeared to apologise for previously criticising him.

Julia's House, a children's hospice, was the first to remove Ferguson, describing her continued role as "inappropriate." The Teenage Cancer Trust, Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, Children's Literacy Charity, National Foundation for Retired Service Animals, and Prevent Breast Cancer also ended their associations. The British Heart Foundation said she would no longer serve as its ambassador.

A spokesperson for Ferguson declined to comment on the charities' decisions.

The controversy followed the publication of the email by the Mail on Sunday and The Sun. Reports indicate that the message, sent in April 2011, came after Epstein allegedly threatened Ferguson during a phone call to "destroy her" in a "Hannibal Lecter-style" manner.

In the email, she described Epstein as a "supreme friend," despite having publicly disowned him in the media. Ferguson wrote: "You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family."

The private message appeared to conflict with Ferguson's earlier public statements. Weeks before, she had called her involvement with Epstein, including borrowing money, a "gigantic error of judgement" and said, "What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed." At the time, she vowed she would "have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again."

The email also included Ferguson saying she "humbly apologized" to Epstein and acknowledging that she knew he felt "hellaciously let down" by her.

A spokesperson for Ferguson explained the email was written under legal advice to counter Epstein's threats and did not reflect her true feelings. "This email was sent in the context of advice the duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats," the statement said, emphasizing that she remained regretful of any association with him.

The resurfaced email prompted charities to reconsider their connections. Ferguson stepped down from the Teenage Cancer Trust, where she had been patron for 35 years; Julia's House, where she had served since 2018; and the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, which she had supported since 2019.

She had also joined Prevent Breast Cancer in 2024 following her own breast cancer treatment the year before.

Her former husband, the Duke of York, had previously faced scrutiny over his own links to Epstein, stepping back as a working royal and relinquishing patronages after a 2019 BBC Newsnight interview highlighted his connections with the jailed financier.