Two newspapers have published an email which is reportedly said to have been sent by the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, calling him a "supreme friend". The Sun and the Mail on Sunday both reported that the email, which dates back to 2011, was sent just weeks after the Duchess had publicly distanced herself from the disgraced financier. In a 2011, it was reported the Duchess was queried after accepting £15,000 from Jeffrey to help pay off accumulated debts. Shortly after, she gave an interview with the London Evening Standard, where she admitted that accepting his money was "a gigantic error of judgment" and had left her "so contrite I cannot say".
She was quoted as saying: "I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf." The Duchess finished by saying: "Whenever I can, I will repay the money and will have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again." However, it's now being reported that two weeks after the interview, she emailed the disgraced financier and apologised for her public comments.
"As you know I did not, absolutely not, say the P word about you," the Duchess wrote, as per The Sun. "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." Her email continued: "I am apologising to you today for not replying to your email or reaching out to you. I was bedridden with fear. I was paralysed."
A spokesperson for the Duchess has since come out and stated that she sent the email after receiving prolific threats from Jeffrey Epstein at the time. "Like many people, she was taken in by his lies. As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with paedophilia," the spokesperson said, as per BBC.
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockEpstein's released emails
The revelation comes weeks after Bloomberg exclusively obtained over 18,000 emails from Jeffrey Epstein's personal Yahoo account. The report shed light onto Jeffrey's relationship with his convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. As well as this, emails reported by Bloomberg also revealed supportive messages politician Peter Mandelson sent to Epstein in 2008 following his guilty plea. The reportedly included passages where Peter encouraged Jeffrey to "fight for early release" shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He is also reported to have told Jeffrey "I think the world of you" days before the disgraced financier began his first jail sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
