Sarah Ferguson appears to have visited Jeffrey Epstein with her two daughters only five days after the disgraced financier was released from prison for child sex crimes, according to newly released emails.
Ferguson is understood to have taken Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to see Epstein at the end of July 2009, less than a week after he was freed from a Florida jail, where he had served 12 months for soliciting a child for prostitution and was placed under house arrest. At the time of the visit, Beatrice and Eugenie would have been 20 and 19.
Epstein seems to have confirmed the meeting in an email sent to Ghislaine Maxwell, then his partner, on July 28, 2009. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
Epstein wrote: “ferg and the two girls come [sic] yesterday.” The day before, an email from “Sarah”, thought to be Ferguson, to Epstein seemingly to arrange the visit, asked: “What address shall we come to. It will be myself, Beatrice and Eugenie. Are we having lunch?”
Separately, Ferguson appears to have complained to Epstein that he was ignoring her and told him: “You were only friends with me to get to Andrew.”
Ferguson seemingly sent two texts over the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service after Epstein appeared to have cut contact with the duchess.
Writing to Epstein about her sense of betrayal, she said: “Don’t know if you are still on this bbm but heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy. Even though you never kept in touch, I still am here with love, friendship and congratualtions [sic] on your baby boy. Sarah xx”
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When she did not receive a reply within eight minutes she wrote: “You have disappeared. I did not even know you were having a baby. It was sOOOOO crystal clear to me that you were only friends with me to get to Andrew. And that really hurt me deeeply [sic]. More than you will know.”
It is understood that Ferguson did not learn any more about the baby from Epstein.
The messages were apparently sent in September 2011, a year after the sex offender’s release from house arrest and seven months after Ferguson gave an interview in which she claimed she would “have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again”.
An undated photo of Ferguson released by the US Department of Justice
PA
In fact, it now seems the reverse was true and that Epstein had cut off contact with her after the interview. Furious at being branded a paedophile, he asked Ferguson for a “letter” to “set the record straight”.
Epstein emailed an address for “Ferg” and copied in her spokesman, James Henderson, saying: “I have not received your letter, setting the record straight. Henderson told me I would have it three weeks ago.”
To mitigate the situation, her spokesman replied: “Please also be aware that the Duchess has given several interviews and made the following comments as requested by you…
“He has always been there for me. He pleaded guilty many years ago to a prostitution crime, not a crime of paedophilia as has been the tabloids’ exaggeration. He has asked for forgiveness and paid his debt. I have nothing more to say.”
The messages are part of three million pages of documents released by US Congress over the investigation into Epstein and his associates.
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Within the dossier, known as the Epstein Files, emails suggest that in July 2009 Epstein paid for Ferguson and her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to fly from London to Miami with a return flight from New York to London.
Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday
THE SUN/NEWS LICENSING
A message sent from a redacted email address to Epstein reads: “Re The Duchess and the girls tickets … would it be ok for me to ask if they are FLEXIBLE when it comes to timing and/or airports? There are several options within OUR parameters, but to match the exact times and airport they want are crazy high price tags.”
While Beatrice and Eugenie appeared to be travelling in economy class, Ferguson wanted to know if she would be flying in business class or first class on the British Airways flight.
Lesley Groff, Epstein’s aide, asked him: “I just spoke to [redacted] she will check in to the best prices for the Duchess and the girls. [redacted] just wants to confirm that the Duchess is to fly business… or first? Or should she get you prices on both?”
Epstein replied “biz”, meaning business class.
“Got it!” Groff responded.
Earlier in the email exchange, Ferguson appears to ask Epstein: “Have you died on me? Don’t.. Please you are my pillar..”
Documents appear to show her asking Epstein for a job, writing: “When are you going to employ me?”
A week later, she seemed to write: “I am feeling very traumatised and alone. I am wanting to work for you at organising your houses.”
She added: “I am in the South of France. I have the perfect butler.”
Elsewhere in the files, it emerged that Epstein wired Ferguson $150,000 after he helped her cash in share options earned from her work for WeightWatchers. The newly released documents appear to show the transfer happened in 2001.
A statement for an account Epstein held at JPMorgan shows that on November 13, 2001 the late sex offender sent the funds “FAO THE DUCHESS OF YORK”.
Another undated photo of Ferguson released by the US Department of Justice
REUTERS
A spokesman for Ferguson said: “[Epstein] put the initial money to facilitate the transaction, which was then repaid to him 48 hours later together with the profit on the transaction which was the 150,000 paid to her.
“It was a big transaction and with share options, you have to pay for them before you can get the profit … it was the only time she has ever done any dealings with him.”
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Ferguson’s theory that Epstein used her to get to Andrew is supported by a disclosure from the US Department of Justice in which Ghislaine Maxwell suggested the former duchess was responsible for introducing the two men.
In a transcript released last year of a conversation with Todd Blanche, the US deputy attorney-general, Maxwell said the men were introduced after Epstein “had gone to the Bahamas and had hung out with Sarah Ferguson”.
On Monday night, Ferguson’s charity, Sarah’s Trust, announced it would close “for the foreseeable future” after “some months of discussion”.
A spokesman for the charity said: “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.”