Epstein claimed Fergie, daughters visited him after jail release
The ex-wife of Prince Andrew took her daughters to New York to visit Jeffrey Epstein, it has been claimed, as new allegations of a $100k loan emerge.
Sarah Ferguson took her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie to visit Jeffrey Epstein in New York after he was released from prison, it has been claimed.
Epstein allegedly wrote to Paul Tweed, his UK-based lawyer, in April 2011, a month after Ms Ferguson had given a newspaper interview apologising for her “terrible, terrible error of judgment”.
According to a leaked email obtained by the Mail on Sunday, Epstein told Mr Tweed that the ex-wife or Prince Andrew that she “should affirmatively state that she was misquoted”, according to the email obtained by the Mail on Sunday.
He went on: “[Ms Ferguson] took apartments in New York. She was the first to celebrate my release with her two daughters in tow.
“She visited me with [a] policeman sitting at my front desk. She has asked for help with her charities.”
A source close to Ms Ferguson, who can no longer use the title of Duchess of York, said neither she nor her daughters – who would have been 20 and 19 at the time – had any recollection of such a visit.
Ms Ferguson is known to have received a small amount of money from disgraced financier Epstein to pay off her debts but newly discovered emails suggest she borrowed far more, The Telegraph reports.
In January 2010, Ms Ferguson wrote: “Is there any chance I could borrow 50 or 100,000 US dollars to help get through the small bills that are pushing me over? Had to ask.”
It came as British police said they were probing claims that Prince Andrew asked a police officer to dig up dirt for a smear campaign against his sexual assault accuser, Australian-based Virginia Giuffre.
Prince Andrew gave up his royal title of Duke of York under pressure from King Charles III, following further revelations about his ties to Epstein.
London’s Metropolitan Police force said it was looking into allegations in the Mail on Sunday that Andrew tried to smear the late Ms Giuffre, who accused the prince of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.
Andrew, 65, has long denied the assault accusations, which have caused considerable embarrassment to the British monarchy and seen the prince virtually banished from royal life in recent years.
Prince Andrew said he has no recollection meeting Ms Giuffre, and has never been charged with any wrongdoing.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Andrew passed on Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his state-funded police protection bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate.
“We are aware of media reporting and are actively looking into the claims made,” a spokesperson for the Met said in a statement emailed to AFP.
The royal’s request came shortly before the publication of a now-infamous photo taken in London appearing to show the prince with his arm around Ms Giuffre’s waist, the paper said.
Andrew allegedly emailed the late Queen Elizabeth II’s then-deputy press secretary and Buckingham Palace aide Ed Perkins, that he had asked one of his personal protection officers to dig up information about Ms Giuffre.
The newspaper said it obtained the email from documents held by a US congressional committee.
Ms Giuffre, who accused Epstein of using her as a sex slave, says that she had sex with Prince Andrew on three separate occasions, including when she was under 18.
Andrew has repeatedly denied Ms Giuffre’s accusations and avoided a trial in a civil lawsuit by paying a multimillion-dollar settlement.
The allegations have received renewed focus ahead of the publication next week of Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs.
Ms Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, was found dead at her farm in Western Australia aged 41 earlier this year, with police ruling it a suicide.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex.
Andrew has also given up membership of the prestigious Order of the Garter, the most senior knighthood in the British honours system, which dates to the 1300s.
Ms Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts has urged King Charles to go further and strip Andrew of his right to be a prince.
“I think there’s more that he could do,” Roberts said of the king on ITV News.
Mr Roberts told BBC Newsnight his sister would be “very proud” of the latest development regarding Prince Andrew.
“We would call on the King to potentially go ahead and take out the prince in the Andrew,” he said.
“I think anybody that was implicated in this should have some sort of resolve. They should have some sort of responsibility and accountability for these survivors.”
He added that he would “welcome any contact from the King, from members of parliament”.
When Prince Andrew was born in 1960, he was automatically a prince as the son of a monarch.
The BBC reports this could only be changed if a legal document was issued by King Charles.
The Times reports that Prince William was “consulted” on the decision to remove Prince Andrew’s titles, but he is not satisfied with the outcome and will be more ruthless when he takes the throne.
When William is king, The Times reports, Andrew will be banned from all elements of royal life and will be excluded from public and private royal events, including William’s coronation, and banned from most state occasions.
Prince William considers his uncle a “threat” and is understood to be concerned about the message Andrew’s presence at royal events sends to victims of sexual abuse, The Times reports.
It is understood that Prince William will also ban Ms Ferguson from royal events.
Bombshell emails between Ms Ferguson and Epstein were revealed last month, where she described the pedophile as a “supreme friend” in a grovelling email after his release from prison.
Her apology to Epstein came after she publicly denounced him following his arrest for child sex offences.
Ferguson has been divorced from Andrew since 1996 even though the two live together.
The email exchange between Prince Andrew and Epstein, which emerged last week, proved a “tipping point” for the King, palace sources have said.
Three months after Andrew said he ended their friendship, the Duke reportedly wrote:
“I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me! It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it.”
He then added they would “play some more soon!!!!”
In his statement announcing his titles had been removed, Prince Andrew said: “In discussion with the King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.
“I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
He said he continued to “vigorously deny the accusations against me”.
