Sarah Ferguson Visited Jeffrey Epstein Twice During His 2009 Prison Sentence, New Emails Reveal
New evidence suggests Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, made two personal visits to Jeffrey Epstein in 2009 while he was serving his first prison sentence in Florida, according to documents released as part of the ongoing disclosure of the Epstein files.
The emails, published on the Justice Department’s website on Dec. 19, reveal that Ferguson met Epstein at his Palm Beach office — a space he was allowed to use during a controversial work-release program. During his 13-month sentence from 2008 to 2009, the convicted sex offender was permitted to leave jail six days a week for up to 12 hours a day to work in the office, a privilege Palm Beach County authorities later ended in 2019.
Epstein had pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges, including soliciting a minor, but received a lenient sentence that allowed him to continue running his operations from outside prison walls.
According to The Telegraph, Ferguson also intended to visit Epstein a third time, but her travel plans fell through at the last minute. USA TODAY has reached out to Ferguson's representatives for comment but has not yet received a response.
The email exchanges paint a strikingly cozy picture. On April 4, 2009, Ferguson wrote to Epstein: “Hello Jeffrey. I am landing in Palm Beach in a couple of hours. Is there any chance on my quick layover, that I can get to have a quick cup of tea,” signing off with “Love Sarah. The red Head.” A week later, on April 11, she called him “dear spectacular friend Jeffrey” and a “legend,” writing: “I am so proud of you. Thank you [for] looking after me so well, and for the brilliance of Yanoush. I have read and devoured your email and am putting into action [what] you said.”
In those emails, Ferguson sought Epstein's business advice for her new venture, Mothers Army, asking him to have his lawyers trademark the name and to suggest prominent women to recruit. After Epstein’s release in July 2009, she continued the correspondence. On Jan. 30, 2010, she wrote: “I really don't have the words to describe my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness. Xx I am at your service . Just marry me.”
Ferguson has publicly disavowed her friendship with Epstein. In an April 2012 interview with the Evening Standard, she said: “I abhor pedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf.” In an email sent April 27, 2011, she apologized to Epstein for earlier comments, writing: “I know you also feel hellaciously let down by me” and “As you know, I did absolutely not say the P. Word about you. But understand it was reported that I did.”
Royal biographer Andrew Lownie told NewsNation that a dog walker claimed to have seen Ferguson leaving one of Epstein's London flats as late as 2014, years after she said she had cut ties. In a September 2025 statement to the BBC and People, her representatives insisted she was among many deceived by Epstein: “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 pedophilia.”
The fallout has been significant. Several charities severed ties with Ferguson in September 2025 after the email revelations. Ferguson, who divorced Prince Andrew (now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) in 1996, had continued to use the Duchess of York title commercially until October 2025, when she removed it from her social media profiles. Former Prince Andrew was himself ousted from senior royal duties and stripped of his royal title on Oct. 17, just days before the publication of a posthumous memoir from Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
While Ferguson has not been charged with any crime related to Epstein, the newly surfaced communications place her at the center of a renewed scandal surrounding Epstein's network, raising questions about how much high-profile figures knew — and when — about his decades of abuse.