Sarah Ferguson's charity has announced it will close "for the foreseeable future", days after new revelations emerged about her friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
More than 3 million documents related to the Epstein investigations were released by the US Department of Justice on Saturday, which appeared to reveal more about his relationship with Ferguson and her ex-husband, the former Duke of York, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
In a statement to British media, a spokesperson for Sarah's Trust 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.
“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.”
It's been known for some time that Ferguson and Mountbatten-Windsor had been friends with Epstein, who committed suicide while in jail awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
Mountbatten-Windsor has been a major part of the scandal, and was accused by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, of having sex with her while she was 17. Andrew has consistently denied the allegations and settled a lawsuit with Giuffre. He was stripped of his titles by King Charles III last year.
The recent dump of files included emails that suggested Ferguson had visited Epstein with her two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, just days after he was released from prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
“What address shall we come to. It will be myself, Beatrice and Eugenie. Are we having lunch?” Part of the email read. The two princesses were aged 20 and 19 at the time.
In another email, Ferguson described Epstein as the "brother I have always wished for", later telling him she needed £20,000 for rent.
One of the biggest bombshells from the file dump included an email from Ferguson that seemed to allude to Epstein having a secret child.
"Don't know if you are still on this bbm [BlackBerry Messenger] but heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy," the first email says.
"Even though you never kept in touch, I still am here with love, friendship and congratualtions [sic] on your baby boy. Sarah xx."
This was followed by another email appearing to rebuke him
"You have disappeared," the email said. "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 deeply. More than you will know."
None of the emails suggest wrongdoing on Ferguson's behalf.
Ferguson's charity closure came months after several charities dropped her as patron over leaked emails that appeared to show her apologising to Epstein for disowning him.
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