Former Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson Closes Charity as Epstein Emails Surface

Sarah Ferguson’s charity, Sarah’s Trust, said it will close “for the foreseeable future” days after the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) released a vast new tranche of Jeffrey Epstein records that included emails appearing to show contact between Ferguson and the late financier after his conviction. A spokesman for the foundation said the decision followed discussions spanning “some months,” but the timing places the closure squarely within the expanding institutional impact of the Epstein disclosures.

Document Dump Drives Fallout

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the DoJ was producing more than 3 million pages, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images “related to Epstein,” reviving the case and intensifying pressure on political, financial, and social elites as the scope of the disclosures widens.

Among those materials were email exchanges that appear to show Ferguson communicating with Epstein while he was imprisoned for soliciting sex from a minor.

Even though solely being named in the files is not a direct indication of wrongdoing, Sarah’s Trust, through its spokesman, confirmed that the charity was closing. The spokesman said “our chair Sarah Ferguson and the board of trustees have agreed that with regret the charity will shortly close for the foreseeable future,” adding that the decision had been “in train for some months.”

Emails, Flights, and Meetings

The released documents outline a detailed chronology of post-conviction contact. Epstein was freed on July 22, 2009, after serving 13 months of an 18-month sentence. An email dated June 14, 2009 from a sender identified as “Sarah” asked Epstein for business guidance. On June 26, 2009, the same sender wrote: “I am alive… yes I did go to the first lady and she loved the Mothers Army. I am going to call you later Love you.”

According to BBC News, an email thread showed flight arrangements for Sarah Ferguson and two assistants from London to Miami, then to New York, before returning to London.

On July 24, 2009, Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff confirmed British Airways tickets totaling $14,080.10, which Epstein approved.

Emails also point to a lunch meeting at Epstein’s Palm Beach home on July 27, 2009, at 358 El Brillo, with plans including Ferguson and her daughters, with a reply from “Sarah” saying, “Cannot wait to see you.”

The correspondence suggests at least three additional meetings in 2009, during a period when Epstein was under house arrest that lasted until summer 2010.

Other emails show Ferguson praising Epstein as the “brother I have always wished for,” congratulating him on the arrival of a “baby boy,” and seeking advice for Mothers Army, a company listed at Companies House under Sarah Margaret Ferguson with a registered address at Royal Lodge, Windsor Great Park.

Reputational Cascade Across Charities

The renewed attention follows earlier consequences. Previous disclosures led to Ferguson being removed last year as patron or ambassador from multiple organizations, including Julia’s House, the Teenage Cancer Trust, Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, Children’s Literacy Charity, National Foundation for Retired Service Animals, Prevent Breast Cancer, and the British Heart Foundation.

The latest DoJ files also included images of Ferguson’s former husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, kneeling over a woman on the floor. Mountbatten-Windsor has “always consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.”

Political Pressure Widens

The Epstein document release is now extending beyond royal-linked institutions. Today, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify before Congress as part of a House Oversight Committee investigation into Epstein, a decision that came days before a scheduled vote to hold them in contempt of Congress after months of seeking their testimony.

The development signals how the DoJ’s multi-million-page disclosure is intensifying scrutiny across political, philanthropic, and public life simultaneously.