UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – 6 UK charities cut ties with Duchess Sarah Ferguson after a 2011 email to Jeffrey Epstein surfaced; her 35-year Teenage Cancer Trust role ended, amid scrutiny linked to Prince Andrew.
AS BBC News reported, 6 charities in the UK have ended ties with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, after an email she sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 was released. In the email, she called the convicted sex offender her “supreme friend” and appeared to apologise for criticising him in public. The message raised doubts over her earlier claim that she had broken all links with Epstein.
Epstein said,
“You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.”
Julia’s House, a children’s hospice in Dorset, was the first to act, saying it was “inappropriate” for her to stay on as patron. Soon after, the Teenage Cancer Trust, the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity, Prevent Breast Cancer, and the British Heart Foundation confirmed they had also removed her from their roles. Some of the charities thanked her for past support but said the relationship could not continue.
What led 6 UK charities to cut ties with Duchess Sarah Ferguson after her 2011 Epstein email?
Officials mentioned that the loss of these roles is significant in the UK charity sector, as Ferguson had held a high profile for decades. Her 35-year role with the Teenage Cancer Trust has also ended. A spokesperson for the Duchess said she would not comment on the charities’ decisions.
Sarah had said her involvement with him had been a “gigantic error of judgement” and that:
“What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed.”
A spokesperson for the Duchess of York said an email she sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 was written after he threatened to sue her for defamation. In that message, she referred to him as a friend, but the spokesman explained she followed advice to calm him and avoid legal action.
“This email was sent in the context of advice the duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats,” said a statement from her spokesman at the weekend, when the email to Epstein had been published.
The statement said the duchess still regrets any link with him. The email was sent several years after Epstein’s conviction in 2008 for sex offences. In 2018, she became patron of Julia’s House, a charity supporting families in Dorset and Wiltshire, and she visited one of its hospices.
The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation asked her to become a patron in 2019 after the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who suffered a fatal allergic reaction. In 2024, she joined Prevent Breast Cancer, one year after receiving treatment for the disease herself.
The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, and the former husband of the duchess also faced repercussions for links to Epstein. After a BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, the duke stepped back from public duties and royal patronages. He was also photographed with Epstein in Central Park, New York, in 2010.
In the United States, there is pressure for the release of further information on Epstein and his connections to high-profile individuals. Files already released include messages and entries from an alleged “birthday book.” Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.