Seven charities have dropped the Duchess of York as a patron or ambassador after an email from 2011 revealed that she called sex offender Jeffrey Epstein her 'supreme friend' and seemed to apologise for her public criticism of him.
Julia's House, a children's hospice, was the first to remove Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew's ex-wife, saying it was 'inappropriate' for her to continue in the role.
The Teenage Cancer Trust, Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, Children's Literacy Charity, National Foundation for Retired Service Animals, and Prevent Breast Cancer also announced they had dropped the duchess as patron. The British Heart Foundation said she would no longer be its ambassador.
A spokesperson for the duchess said she was not commenting on the charities' decisions to end their links with her. It comes after the Mail on Sunday and Sun newspapers published a 2011 email from the duchess to Epstein, which appears to have been sent after she had publicly claimed to have broken off contact with him.
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.' This seemed to contradict her public denunciation of Epstein in an interview from a few weeks earlier, where she described her involvement with him as a 'gigantic error of judgement', stating, 'What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed.'
The duchess had claimed she would 'have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again,' only for the later email to express a 'humbly apologised' sentiment toward him and admit she 'knew you feel hellaciously let down by me'.
A spokesperson for the duchess explained that the email was intended to counter Epstein's threat to her about a defamation lawsuit and reiterated her regret over any association with him.
The fallout from the email has resulted in a series of charities cutting their ties with the duchess, including long-standing affiliations with organizations such as the Teenage Cancer Trust, where she had been a patron for 35 years.
Sarah Ferguson's former husband, the Duke of York, has faced similar issues regarding his past associations with Epstein, having to step back from royal duties due to ongoing scrutiny of his connections.
The avalanche of charities choosing to sever ties reflects how deeply her public image has been affected by the emergence of this email, with discussions anticipated regarding future affiliations with Buckingham Palace. The ongoing scrutiny of Epstein's connections will likely keep this situation in the public spotlight, raising questions not only for the duchess but also for the royal family as a whole.
Julia's House, a children's hospice, was the first to remove Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew's ex-wife, saying it was 'inappropriate' for her to continue in the role.
The Teenage Cancer Trust, Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, Children's Literacy Charity, National Foundation for Retired Service Animals, and Prevent Breast Cancer also announced they had dropped the duchess as patron. The British Heart Foundation said she would no longer be its ambassador.
A spokesperson for the duchess said she was not commenting on the charities' decisions to end their links with her. It comes after the Mail on Sunday and Sun newspapers published a 2011 email from the duchess to Epstein, which appears to have been sent after she had publicly claimed to have broken off contact with him.
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.' This seemed to contradict her public denunciation of Epstein in an interview from a few weeks earlier, where she described her involvement with him as a 'gigantic error of judgement', stating, 'What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed.'
The duchess had claimed she would 'have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again,' only for the later email to express a 'humbly apologised' sentiment toward him and admit she 'knew you feel hellaciously let down by me'.
A spokesperson for the duchess explained that the email was intended to counter Epstein's threat to her about a defamation lawsuit and reiterated her regret over any association with him.
The fallout from the email has resulted in a series of charities cutting their ties with the duchess, including long-standing affiliations with organizations such as the Teenage Cancer Trust, where she had been a patron for 35 years.
Sarah Ferguson's former husband, the Duke of York, has faced similar issues regarding his past associations with Epstein, having to step back from royal duties due to ongoing scrutiny of his connections.
The avalanche of charities choosing to sever ties reflects how deeply her public image has been affected by the emergence of this email, with discussions anticipated regarding future affiliations with Buckingham Palace. The ongoing scrutiny of Epstein's connections will likely keep this situation in the public spotlight, raising questions not only for the duchess but also for the royal family as a whole.
