Sarah Ferguson told Jeffrey Epstein he was her “pillar” as she begged for him not to die and later asked for employment, according to newly released documents.
Emails published by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) reveal the depth of Ms Ferguson’s friendship with Epstein and suggest the disgraced financier wanted her help to clear his name.
Ms Ferguson appeared to email Epstein in July 2010, two years after he was convicted by a Florida state court of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute, and said: “Have you died on me ? Don’t.. Please you are my pillar..”
She followed up a month later confessing: “I am feeling very traumatised and alone. I am wanting to work for you at organising your houses.
“I am in the South of France”, she said, adding: “I have the perfect butler.”
In a follow up email in September, she asked him: “When are you going to employ me”
A previous email exchange from 2009 saw the then-Duchess of York call Epstein the “brother I have always wished for” as she updated Epstein on potential opportunities for her business brands and books.
“In just one week, after your lunch, it seems the energy has lifted”, she wrote. “I have never been more touched by a friends [sic] kindness than your compliment to me infront of my girls.
“Thank you Jeffrey for being the brother I have always wished for.”
The next year, in another email between “Sarah” and Epstein she calls him a “legend” and describes her “gratitude” for him.
She added: “Xx I am at your service . Just marry me.”
Another email exchange believed to be from Epstein to three others, including his publicist, in March 2011 said: “I think Fergie can now say, I am not a pedo.”
It adds: “She was DUPED into believeing [sic] false stories.”
At the time, Epstein had been accused of abusing dozens of teenage girls between 1999 and 2007. He avoided federal sex trafficking charges and served 13 months in jail for lesser state charges of soliciting prostitution from someone under 18 in 2008.
Emails show Epstein’s publicist at the time Mike Sitrick said they have a strategy to “get newspapers to stop calling you a pedophile” and one was to get “Fergie to retract”.
“Sarah” emailed Epstein a month later saying she “did not” and “would not” call him a “P”, and that she had acted to “protect my own brand”.
In 2009, Ferguson wrote to Epstein and said: “I urgently need 20,000 pounds ($27,521) for rent today” following the collapse of her business venture,
“The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay. Any brainwaves?”
The email exchange started between Epstein and a man named David Stern, who shared a copy of an ABC article questioning if Ferguson’s finances were in “jeopardy”.
Epstein suggests the leak could come from “disgruntled investors” and Ferguson replies confirming an investor has “broken a confidentiality agreement”.
Although the email chain appears to end once she explains that she needs money for rent, elsewhere an email from Epstein claims to have helped her financially for 15 years.
In several emails, Ferguson’s daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are named, including Epstein asking if they are free to say hello in July 2010.
Emails in July 2009 also suggest a lunch was held between Ferguson, her daughters and Epstein.
Epstein was invited to several events involving the royal family giving him access to British high society.
Then Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk wrote to Epstein on behalf of Ferguson in February 2010, to invite him to Andrew’s 50th birthday party at St James’s Palace in London.
Another email from Epstein to hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin in 2009 claims “fergie said she could organize tea in the buckingham palace apts.. or windsor castle” [sic].
A message sent by Ferguson to Epstein congratulating the paedophile on the birth of a “baby boy” after he was released from jail in 2011, suggests he had a secret child, The Telegraph reported.
“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 am still here with love, friendship and congratulations on your baby boy. Sarah xx,” she said in the message sent 15 years ago.
But it has never been established if Epstein had any children.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, whose titles have already been stripped, will soon move out of the Royal Lodge. His ex-wife Ferguson will also need to move home and has already been dropped by several charities over her links to Epstein.
The Independent has contacted Ms Ferguson’s representatives for comment. A spokesman for Sarah’s Trust said on Monday evening that the charity would close for the foreseeable future.
They said: “Our chair Sarah Ferguson and the board of trustees have agreed that with regret the charity will shortly close for the foreseeable future.
“This has been under discussion and in train for some months,” the statement continued. “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.”
