Sarah Ferguson Called Epstein ‘the Brother She Always Wished For’ — Now Loses York Honor Over Ties to Convicted Offender

After losing the title of Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson has been stripped of another honor because of her connections to convicted s– offender Jeffrey Epstein. The former royal family member has had the Freedom of the City of York title revoked.

Ferguson was mentioned several times in the recently released Epstein Files. While being named in the files does not prove any wrongdoing, the documents revealed that Ferguson shared a close friendship with the disgraced financier even after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.

On March 26, York’s councilors filed a motion to revoke Ferguson’s Freedom of the City honor. The council then voted unanimously to remove the title. Ferguson received the title in 1987 following her marriage to former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The couple received the status as a wedding gift. Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of the title in April 2022 because of his association with Epstein.

Freedom of the City is a civic honor that does not offer special privileges. It is granted to ‘persons of distinction’ or local heroes in the UK. Some prominent personalities who earned the status from the city of York include former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Katharine, Duchess of Kent.

Announcing the decision to revoke Ferguson’s title, the City of York Council's Labour leader Claire Douglas said, “Honorary Freedom is bestowed only on persons of distinction and those having given eminent services to the City of York. As the people of York would expect, holding this status requires upholding the values and behaviours consistent with such an honour.”

“City of York councilors considered these issues this evening and agreed that removing the honour from Sarah Ferguson was appropriate. This was the right decision to take to maintain the integrity and standing of this important York honour,” she added.

Ferguson earlier lost her Duchess of York title when King Charles III initiated the process to remove Mountbatten-Windsor’s royal titles in October 2025. Around two months later, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) began declassifying the Epstein Files, which led to widespread outrage against Ferguson.

The documents showed that Ferguson called Epstein the ‘brother she always wished for’ in August 2009. By that time, the financier had already been found guilty of soliciting a minor. The same year, when Epstein was serving his jail sentence in Florida, Ferguson allegedly emailed him and wrote, “My dear spectacular and special friend Jeffrey. You are a legend, and I am so proud of you.”

In October 2009, she sought financial assistance from him by allegedly writing, “I urgently need 20,000 pounds for rent today. The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers. Any brainwaves?” Days after Epstein was released from prison in July 2009, Ferguson reportedly flew to Miami with her daughters to meet him.

The files also reveal that, though Ferguson publicly criticized Epstein in March 2011, she privately apologized to him the very next month and wrote, “You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.”