Sarah Ferguson asked to borrow between $50,000 and $100,000 from paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to pay for ‘small bills’, new emails reportedly show.
Prince Andrew’s ex-wife was dropped as a patron by several charities last month, after a 2011 email emerged showing her describing Epstein as a ‘supreme friend’ following an interview where she publicly criticised him.
And new emails reported by the Mail on Sunday suggest the pair’s relationship was closer than previously thought.
The newspaper said the messages are currently under review by the US Congress, and are likely to be released once details that could be used to identify Epstein’s victims are removed.
In one of the reported emails, said to have been sent in January 2010, Ferguson writes: ‘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.’
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
Epstein is said to have denied the request, blaming the monitoring of his bank accounts after a spell in prison, and declined to help when the former Duchess of York suggested he ask a mutual friend for the loan instead.
In another, reportedly sent to his friend French fashion agent Jean-Luc Brunel, Epstein describes Ferguson as ‘the duchess that I have financially helped for 15 years’.
The reported messages suggest the disgraced financier’s fury at an Evening Standard interview where Ferguson claimed to have broken off contact with him.
It was revealed last month that the then-duchess sent a subsequent email where she told Epstein: ‘You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.’
The news led to charities including the Teenage Cancer Trust, Prevent Breast Cancer and Natasha Allergy Research Foundation dropping her as a patron.
Ferguson lost her Duchess of York title earlier this week, when Prince Andrew was forced to give up his own title over his links with the late criminal.
Further scrutiny of the Prince’s relationship with Epstein is expected to come with the imminent release of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir.
The book, titled ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’, will detail the alleged encounter she had with Andrew while she was 17 after being trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein.
Virginia was found dead aged 41 at her home in Neergabby, Australia, in April.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.