Various charities on Monday severed ties with Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, after British newspapers printed an electronic mail that she reportedly wrote to the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, describing him as a “supreme good friend.”
Julia’s Home, a kids’s hospice, stated that the reported correspondence made it inappropriate for Ferguson, often known as the Duchess of York, to stay a patron. A spokesman for Ferguson stated 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 knowledge shared this weekend on the Duchess of York’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein, Julia’s Home has taken the choice that it might be inappropriate for her to proceed as a patron of the charity,” the charity stated. “We’ve suggested the Duchess of York of this determination and thank her for her previous assist.”
A meals allergy charity, The Natasha Allergy Analysis Basis, and Stop Breast Most cancers, had been additionally among the many charities that reduce ties in mild of current revelations.
“We had been disturbed to learn of Sarah, Duchess of York’s, correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein,” Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, founders of the meals allergy charity, stated in a press release. “Sarah Ferguson has not been actively concerned with the charity for some years. She was a patron however, within the mild of the current revelations, we’ve got taken the choice that it might be inappropriate for her to proceed to be related to the charity. We want to thank her for her kindness and assist up to now.”
The Teenage Most cancers Belief, which had an affiliation with Ferguson for 35 years, additionally dropped her as a patron.
Stephane Cardinale – Corbis through Getty Photos
The e-mail referred to a 2011 interview with the Night Customary newspaper during which she apologized for accepting 15,000 kilos from Epstein.
“I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of kids and know that this was a big error of judgment on my behalf. I’m simply so contrite I can’t say,” Ferguson stated within the interview. “At any time when 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 during which she “humbly apologized” for linking him to intercourse abuse, saying “you will have all the time been a steadfast, beneficiant and supreme good friend to me and my household,” The Solar newspaper reported over the weekend.
The Related Press could not independently affirm that the e-mail is genuine.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 whereas he was in custody going through federal intercourse trafficking costs.
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 Occasions of London reported. Andrew informed the BBC in 2019 that he ceased all contact with Epstein in December 2010, after the late disgraced financier pleaded responsible to intercourse crimes in Florida.
Andrew and his ex-wife have confronted a collection of scandals amid issues that the prince has tried to revenue from his royal standing.
He was pressured to surrender all royal duties and charity roles after the 2019 interview with the BBC during which he was criticized for attempting to reduce his connections with Epstein and failing to indicate sympathy for his victims. Final yr, 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.
