Sarah Ferguson’s charity Sarah’s Trust is shutting down following revelations of her continued contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after his 2008 conviction, according to newly released U.S. Department of Justice documents.
The charity, which focused on improving the lives of women and children, announced it “will shortly close for the foreseeable future,” a decision that had reportedly been “under discussion and in train for some months.”
Emails Reveal Continued Contact
The closure comes after damning emails showed Ferguson, the Duchess of York and ex-wife of Prince Andrew, maintained a relationship with Epstein years after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor. In the correspondence, Ferguson referred to Epstein as a “legend” and “the brother I have always wished for,” according to The Independent.
Even more troubling? Emails uncovered by Sky News suggest Ferguson and her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie visited Epstein’s Miami home just days after his release from prison in 2009 — raising serious questions about the family’s judgment and ties to the disgraced financier.
In one particularly revealing exchange from March 2011, Epstein complained about being identified as a pedophile in London’s Evening Standard newspaper. Ferguson responded expressing “deep regret” over her association with him, documents show.
Financial Entanglements
The documents also reveal Ferguson’s financial dependence on Epstein. At one point, she requested £20,000 from him to cover rent, claiming her landlord had threatened to go to the newspapers if she didn’t pay.
“Our chair Sarah Ferguson and the board of trustees have agreed that with regret the charity will shortly close for the foreseeable future,” a spokesperson for Sarah’s Trust said in a statement. The timing of the announcement, coming shortly after these revelations, has raised eyebrows in philanthropic circles.
Document Release Controversy
The emails came to light as part of a broader release of Epstein-related documents by the Justice Department. But the release itself has been fraught with problems. The department has since withdrawn thousands of documents and media files after victims’ lawyers reported that nearly 100 victims had been adversely affected by inadequate redactions.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton indicated that the department had taken down “nearly all materials identified by victims or their lawyers, along with a ‘substantial number’ of documents identified independently by the government.” The department cited technical or human error for the redaction failures.
The charity’s closure marks the latest fallout in the sprawling Epstein scandal that has tainted numerous high-profile individuals. For Ferguson, whose charitable work had been central to rebuilding her public image following past controversies, the shutdown represents both a personal and professional setback that may prove difficult to overcome.
