Sarah Ferguson‘s charity has announced it will ‘regretfully’ close for the ‘foreseeable future’ – just days after revelations came to light about the former duchess’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Newly released emails suggested Ms Ferguson had taken Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to see the paedophile in July 2009, less than a week after he was freed from a Florida jail.
Ms Ferguson’s charity, Sarah’s Trust, has now confirmed it will be shutting its doors – following ‘months’ of apparent deliberation.
A spokesman said: ‘Our chair Sarah Ferguson and the board of trustees have agreed that with regret the charity will shortly close for the foreseeable future.
‘This has been under discussion and in train for some months.
‘We remain extremely proud of the work of the trust over recent years. We have partnered with over 60 other charities in over 20 countries, providing education, healthcare, crisis response and environmental projects.
‘We delivered over 150,000 aid parcels during the Covid pandemic, provided medical aid and training for those affected by the war in Ukraine and delivered education for over 200 children in Ghana.’
Sarah Ferguson sent a large number of emails to Epstein, many of them fawning and obsequious
Ms Ferguson’s charity, Sarah’s Trust, has now confirmed it will be shutting its doors – apparently following ‘months’ of deliberation. The former Duchess is pictured with her ex-husband Andrew
It follows Epstein confirming a meeting with Ms Ferguson in an email sent to his then partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, on July 28 2009.
He wrote: ‘ferg and the two girls come [sic] yesterday’.
The day before, Ms Ferguson herself emailed Epstein to arrange the visit, writing: ‘What address shall we come to. It will be myself, Beatrice and Eugenie. Are we having lunch?’
Emails reportedly showed the group met at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion, where the paedophile served vegetable lasagne prepared by a Parisian chef.
Epstein later referred to the visit in correspondence released in October. Writing to British lawyer Paul Tweed on April 7, 2011, he complained about Ms Ferguson’s failure to defend him publicly following his conviction.
The emails are among more than three million documents released by the US Justice Department on Friday.
Mr Ferguson’s charity links were already coming to an end last September – as she was dropped by a string of organisations in the UK including Teenage Cancer Trust and British Heart Foundation.
In a devastating blow to her prospects in America, she then resigned from the Youth Impact Council, a US-based charity that helps young people.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein in December 2010. Ms Ferguson and her ex-husband have been ostracised by senior royals such as King Charles and Prince William
The duchess apologised to Epstein in an email for publicly criticizing him
In a statement to the Daily Mail the nonprofit had said: ‘Sarah, Duchess of York has stepped down from her role as ambassador to allow our organisation to continue to focus on our work.
‘The Council accepts her resignation and recognizes her contributions to date.’
Alleged sex trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre’s family had urged US organisations to follow the ‘commendable’ example set by British charities to cut ties with the duchess.
In an interview last year, Ms Ferguson described her involvement with Epstein, who had served time for soliciting prostitution from a minor, as a ‘gigantic error of judgment’.
She is now said to be in a ‘fragile’ state over her fall from grace, telling friends her recent travails were ‘not good for my mental health’.
Ms Ferguson and her ex-husband have been ostracised by senior royals such as King Charles and Prince William – and it has strained their relationships with their children Beatrice and Eugenie.
Beatrice gave a huge and public show of support for her father with a visit with his granddaughter Sienna, four, and a horse ride around Windsor Castle’s grounds last month.
Eugenie is reported to have cut off contact with Andrew, although there are contradictory claims about whether their relationship is completely over.
Ms Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were friends with Epstein for more than a decade.
In a separate email sent in 2010, the former Duchess told the late financier: ‘Just marry me’. She also described him as a ‘legend’ and said he was the ‘brother I have always wished for’.
The tranche of emails has reportedly left Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie deeply distressed.
Sources close to the sisters say they are ‘aghast’, ‘appalled’ and ’embarrassed’ by their mother’s communications with Epstein following his conviction for child sex crimes.
A source close to the sisters told the Daily Mail: ‘They are aghast at what they have read. They are mortified by the emails their mother has sent to Epstein. It is so embarrassing for them.’