Sarah Ferguson is seen for first time since she was dropped by children's charities
By MARK DUELL,
Sarah Ferguson was seen today for the first time since charities dropped her following revelations over an email to Jeffrey Epstein calling him a 'supreme friend'.
The Duchess of York was photographed in the back seat of a Mercedes-Benz V-Class people carrier being driven out of her Royal Lodge home at Windsor Great Park.
Sarah, who lives at the £30million royal residence with her former husband Prince Andrew, stared ahead in the morning sunshine behind her smartly-dressed driver.
Several charities severed ties with her on Monday after it emerged she apologised to paedophile financier Epstein in April 2011 after publicly disowning him in the media.
Among the organisations to end their relationship with Sarah after the email came to light was the Teenage Cancer Trust, which dropped her as patron after 35 years.
Similar announcements came from Wiltshire and Dorset-based children's hospice Julia's House, Prevent Breast Cancer, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation and the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals – who all cut ties on Monday.
The British Heart Foundation also said Sarah was no longer a serving ambassador for the charity. Julia's House said it would be 'inappropriate for her to continue as a patron of the charity' – citing her correspondence with Epstein as a deciding factor.
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Sarah Ferguson is driven out of her Royal Lodge home at Windsor Great Park this morning
The Duchess of York is photographed in the back seat of a Mercedes-Benz V-Class car today
Meanwhile founders of food allergy charity The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation said they were 'disturbed' to read her correspondence with him. Sarah also resigned from the Youth Impact Council, a US-based charity that helps young people.
Sarah Ferguson's scandals: A timeline
Since marrying into the Royal Family in 1986, Sarah Ferguson has never been far away from scandal and negative headlines.
March 1992: Sarah and Prince Andrew separate.
August 1992: Newspaper photos emerge of Sarah having her toes sucked by financial adviser John Bryan.
1995: Duchess of York backs project launched by bankrupt businessman Clive Garrad to open nursing home named after her; he is later jailed for fraud.
January 1996: Fergie's debts are reported to have hit £3million. It is also revealed that Queen Elizabeth II had paid her daughter-in-law's debts on 'several' occasions.
May 1996: Sarah's divorce from Prince Andrew is finalised.
October 1996: Fergie drops a High Court action aimed at banning a book by one-time confidante Allan Starkie.
1997: Fergie becomes the first royal to endorse a product on television when she advertises Ocean Spray cranberry drink.
1997: The Duchess meets top golfer Tiger Woods. Biographer Andrew Lownie claims she then confided to broadcaster Piers Morgan that she was 'in love' with Woods, but 'he doesn't know it yet'
2008: Sarah joins ex-husband Andrew in living at Royal Lodge.
2008: Fergie appears on TV programme The Duchess in Hull, where she is seen advising a family of six how to live more healthily on a budget of £80 a week.
April 2010: It emerges Fergie is being sued by Mayfair solicitors Davenport Lyons for £200,000 for work they did turning her children's books into a TV series and to create a protect a trademark she planned to use.
May 2010: In a sting by the now-defunct News of the World, Sarah is filmed selling access to Prince Andrew for £500,000.
March 2011: Revelations that Sarah accepted £15,000 from paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein to help pay off her debts first emerge.
2011: Sarah storms out of interview with 60 Minutes Australia host Michael Usher.
January 2012: Turkish court presses charges against the Duchess of York for secretly filming in an orphanage for ITV documentary.
2014: Andrew and Sarah buy ski chalet in Swiss resort of Verbier, but fail to pay the seller the full amount until 2021.
December 2015: Fergie is spotted selling hair straighteners on shopping channel QVC. She boasts they are available in 'royal purple'.
2023 onwards: Andrew and Fergie come under mounting pressure to leave Royal Lodge and downsize to a smaller property
September 20, 2025: Bombshell email reveals Fergie lied when she pledged to cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
September 22, 2025: The Duchess is dropped as patron of multiple charities in response to the revelations about her lies over her relationship with Epstein.
Sarah sent the apology email to Epstein after he threatened to 'destroy' her family in a 'chilling call', it was claimed.
The Duchess sent the message in April 2011, describing Epstein as a 'supreme friend', after publicly disowning him in the media.
James Henderson, the Duchess's spokesperson at the time, said the email was sent after a 'really menacing and nasty' phone call from the sex offender who had a 'Hannibal Lecter-type voice', the Telegraph reported.
According to the outlet, Mr Henderson said: 'People don't understand how terrible Epstein was. I can remember everything about that call.
'It was a chilling call and I'm surprised anybody was ever friends with him given the way he talked to me.
'He said he would destroy the York family and he was quite clear on that. He said he would destroy me. He wasn't shouting.
'He had a Hannibal Lecter-type voice. It was very cold and calm and really menacing and nasty.'
He continued: 'The pressure she was put under to protect her family must have been huge. I am sure there were legal actions.
'And this was long before the Duke's life had been ruined by his association with Epstein. It was 14 years ago and everyone will do what they have to do to protect their family. Her family and children will always come first for her.'
The phone call reportedly took place in the wake of the duchess's interview with the Evening Standard on March 7 2011, in which she apologised for accepting £15,000 from Epstein.
During the interview, Sarah told the newspaper: '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 little over a month later, the Duchess sent a message to Epstein, reported by The Mail on Sunday, in which she said: '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.'
It continued: '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 over-riding fear. I am sorry.'
Following the announcements by the charities on Monday, family members of Virginia Giuffre praised their 'decisive action' by cutting ties with Sarah.
Ms Giuffre, who died in Western Australia in April aged 41, was one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offenders Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
In 2022, she settled lawsuit against Andrew for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein. He denied the claim and ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
American-born Ms Giuffre's brother, Sky Roberts, and her sister-in-law Amanda Roberts, said in a statement: 'It is commendable that these seven charities have cut ties with Sarah Ferguson in light of her connections to Epstein.
'This decisive action sends a strong message about accountability and the need to confront those who support the horrific child trafficking network established by Epstein and Maxwell.'
They added: 'It raises important questions about our own efforts in America. Are we doing enough to condemn those complicit in these crimes?
Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York alongside other Royal Family members at the funeral for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral on September 16
'We should follow the example set by these organisations and take meaningful steps to protect the vulnerable and uphold justice.'
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Ms Giuffre was 'systematically failed by nearly every powerful institution that was meant to protect her', they said, before commending the 'forceful response' from the charities.
They added: 'In absence of governmental accountability, we urgently need stronger public condemnation of the men and women involved in propping up Epstein's horrific child sex trafficking network here in America to begin pursuing real justice.'
Andrew paid millions to settle the civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre in 2022, who alleged the duke slept with her on three separate occasions.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.
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