The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson has been dropped as a patron of two charities following controversy regarding an apology email she sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It had emerged that the Duchess of York had sent the paedophile tycoon an apology for publicly disowning him.
This revelation has resulted in her being dropped by the children's hospice Julia's House, and food allergy charity, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation.
In March 2011, The Duchess of York gave an interview to the Evening Standard where she apologised for accepting £15,000 from Mr Epstein.
"I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite, I cannot say", she said at the time. "Whenever I can, I will repay the money and have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again".
However, a month later, Sarah who is the ex wife of Prince Andrew, had sent Epstein an email, where she "humbly apologised" for linking him to paedophilia in the media back in March.
Both charities have since released statements.
"Following the information shared this weekend on the Duchess of York's correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein, Julia's House has taken the decision that it would be inappropriate for her to continue as a patron of the charity", Julia's House have said. "We have advised the Duchess of York of this decision and thank her for her past support".
Meanwhile, Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, founders of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation have said that they were "disturbed" to hear about this dialogue between The Duchess of York and Epstein.
"We were disturbed to read of Sarah, Duchess of York's, correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein", they said. "Sarah Ferguson has not been actively involved with the charity for some years. She was a patron but, in the light of the recent revelations, we have taken the decision that it would be inappropriate for her to continue to be associated with the charity. We would like to thank her for her kindness and support in the past".
In response, the Duchess' spokesperson said that she only sent this apology message after Epstein had threatened to sue her.
"The duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been, her first thoughts are with his victims.
"Like many people, she was taken in by his lies", the statement continued. "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.
"She does not resile from anything she said then".
"This email was sent in the context of advice the duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats".
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in August 2019, having been arrested for sex trafficking the previous month.
