Sarah Ferguson has experienced a bit of a comeback in the Royal Family in recent years, especially after she "saved Christmas" by convincing Prince Andrew to stay home from Sandringham in 2024. She's been welcomed back into the fold by attending an Easter church service, Royal Ascot and other events in 2025—including the Duchess of Kent's historic funeral on September 16. But after her 2011 email to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was leaked over the weekend, the future looks uncertain for the Duchess of York—and The King and Prince William seem to have different opinions on how to handle the situation.
On September 20, The Sun shared details of an email Ferguson sent to Epstein apologizing for distancing herself from him after his release from prison—even though she had just given an interview vowing to never associate with him again. “You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family," she wrote in the message, adding that she "was advised in no uncertain terms, to have nothing to do with you and to not speak or email you."
Following the email leak, Ferguson was dropped from a number of charities she's served for years, including Prevent Breast Cancer, the Teenage Cancer Trust, children's hospice Julia's House, the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation and the Children's Literacy Charity. Now, The King must decide on whether to include the Duchess of York in further family events.
Sarah Ferguson is seen at the Duchess of Kent's funeral on September 16.
"William feels even more strongly than The King that Andrew and Fergie are an embarrassment and will be urging his father to act," a source told the Daily Mail. "The optics of that pair of chancers guffawing away [at events] look terrible."
However, King Charles doesn't necessarily take the same hard stance. "The King doesn't want to cut ties with his brother, former sister-in-law and that side of the family," the royal insider added. "The late Queen, conscious that Fergie was the mother of her granddaughters, always took that view, even if Prince Philip couldn't bear to be in the same room as Sarah."
Although Prince Andrew's disastrous Newsnight interview did more harm than good in clearing his name surrounding Epstein, the Daily Mail's source suggested Ferguson might try to set the record straight. "I think there's plenty more to come out yet about Epstein and Andrew. Perhaps the Royal Household should be thinking about pre-empting it all by coming clean?" the insider said.
"The Duchess of York can be extraordinarily charming. So I'm sure she will be backpedalling furiously," the source added.
The Duchess of York and Duchess of Edinburgh are seen at the Duchess of Kent's funeral on September 16.
However, the publication claims that The King "will likely immediately ban" the Duke and Duchess of York from walking with the Royal Family on Christmas Day and other events. "He may also finally evict them from Royal Lodge, their Windsor mansion, which William is said to be demanding as a minimum," the outlet added.
As for Ferguson's thoughts on the email, a representative for the duchess told People that she "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."
"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 statement continued. "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."
