A number of charities have severed associations with Sarah, Duchess of York after a leaked email appears to show her apologising to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein for publicly disowning him.
The organisations released statements today removing her from positions of patron and ambassador, after it has emerged the Duchess had sent an email to Epstein in 2011 from her private account, in which she called him a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’.
The email came just weeks after she told reporters she would ‘never have anything to do with’ him again, having publicly denounced the behaviour for which the financier was convicted in 2008.
The Teenage Cancer Trust, with whom Sarah had worked since 1990, was among the group of six that has distanced themselves from the Duchess, the others being the British Heart Foundation, children’s hospice Julia’s House, food allergy charity The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity and the organisation Prevent Breast Cancer.
A day after the majority of organisations made their decision for the Duchess to step down, the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals also announced that it has dropped the Duchess of York as its Patron.
The leaked email, first reported by the Sun on Sunday and the Daily Mail, allegedly showed that the Duchess had ‘humbly apologised’ to Epstein for linking him to paedophilia publicly – in spite of his conviction.
Sarah’s correspondence reportedly read: ‘I know you feel hellaciously let down by me. And I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that. You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family. I am apologising to you today for not replying to your email or reaching out to you.
‘I was bedridden with fear. I was paralysed. I was advised, in no uncertain terms, to have nothing to do with you and to not speak or email you. And if I did – I would cause more problems to you, the Duke and myself. I was broken and lost. So please understand. I didn’t want to hurt Andrew one more time. I was in overriding fear. I am sorry.’
In the email, she appeared to privately apologise for her public rejection of Epstein, saying: ‘You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.’
That seemed to contradict her public denunciation of Epstein in an interview earlier that year, in which she 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.’
The children’s hospice was the first to remove the Duchess from her role as patron earlier today, releasing a statement: ‘Following the information shared this weekend on the Duchess of York’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein, Julia’s House has taken the decision that it would be inappropriate for her to continue as a patron of the charity.
‘We have advised the Duchess of York of this decision and thank her for her past support.’
Similar statements were released by the other organisations: Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, founders of The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, said: they were ‘disturbed’ by the correspondence, and highlighted that Sarah has ‘not been actively involved with the charity for some years’.
The Children’s Literacy Charity also used the term ‘inappropriate’ regarding a continued relationship, while the Teenage Cancer Trust said it had ‘made the decision to end our relationship with the Duchess of York’. The British Heart Foundation said the ex-Royal was ‘no longer serving as an ambassador’ for the charity.
Sarah and Prince Andrew divorced in 1996 but continued a cordial relationship as they raised their two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie. While she ceased to be a working Royal, the Duchess continued to hold roles with charitable organisations given she was a public figure. The couple still live together at Royal Lodge, former home of the Queen Mother in the grounds of the Windsor estate.
But Epstein is a shadow neither of them can shake.
The Duchess gave an interview to the Evening Standard on in 2011 in which she apologised for accepting £15,000 from the convicted financier, and issued a public apology for their affiliation, commenting: ‘I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say’.
‘Whenever I can, I will repay the money and have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.’
A spokesperson for the Duchess said the email to Epstein after this public backtracking in 2011 had been sent because she was trying to counter a threat from him to sue her for defamation. She had ‘been taken in by his lies’ and she still regretted any association with him.
‘The Duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been, her first thoughts are with his victims.
‘Like many people, she was taken in by his lies. As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with paedophilia. She does not resile from anything she said then.
‘This email was sent in the context of advice the duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.’
This isn’t Sarah’s first brush with the press uncovering private conversations: in 2010, she was filmed by the News of the World offering an undercover reporter access to Prince Andrew for £500,000.
