Sarah Ferguson has been brought down by her association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and evicted from her home of 30 years she shared with former royal, Prince Andrew. The Duchess of York – who also relinquished her royal title – has been dropped by seven charities after an email revealed that she called Epstein a “supreme friend” and appeared to apologise for her public criticism of him.
Meanwhile, the former Prince, now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has lost his remaining royal titles and privileges following months of pressure over his ties to convicted sex offender Epstein. Andrew has always denied wrongdoing. Sarah and Andrew have since withdrawn from public engagements since the most recent Epstein controversy.
Express.co.uk takes a look at the celebrities who have met the former couple as many gave a insight into the pair’s true colours.
Jennie Bond
Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond suggests that whilst Ferguson was previously a beloved public personality, her behaviour is unlikely to receive public absolution.
She told The Mirror: “My impression of her has always been that she’s someone quite hard to dislike. Misguided, yes. Over-enthusiastic, yes. But someone, I thought, with a good heart. Now, however, we know that she lied about her friendship with Epstein, and you do have to question what sort of person would do that. She says she can’t remember the meeting, but Epstein’s emails suggest otherwise.”
She explained: “I’ve always thought her downfall was her hopeless grasp of money, combined with her desire to have more and more of it. She allowed her debts to spiral on a level few of us would understand.”
(Image: Getty)
Emily Maitlis
The 2019 interview with Andrew was dubbed a “car-crash” as the royal spoke candidly about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The BBC interview is widely regarded as causing huge damage to Andrew’s reputation and is seen by many as contributing to his downfall. Days after it aired, the duke announced he was stepping back from royal duties, saying the Epstein scandal had become a “major disruption” to the Royal Family.
Reflecting on the interview, Maitlis said: “Prince Andrew, he lost his royal duties, he lost the ability to wear uniform, he lost the respect of the nation, and it became, I think, much more difficult for him in his place in the Royal Family,” she said.
“And on the other side, we don’t know if Epstein’s victims gained anything from that. We don’t know if their lives materially changed,” she added.
“There’s been no trial. There’s been a settlement… but we haven’t had that sense of closure there,” she said.
(Image: BBC)
Denise Welch
Denise Welch opened up about an awkward incident she had with Prince Andrew around the time of Princess Diana’s death in 1997. The Loose Women panellist attended a gala with her ex-husband Tim Healy.
“Myself and this cricketer, who I won’t name, had made a decision not to mention Princess Diana because she had only recently died. I had never met Diana but loved her so much and was mortified when she died, like a lot of people. Anyway, Prince Andrew was very keen to talk about her and he brought it up,” the star said.
She continued: “He started to say things that really, really upset me, that were very to me disrespectful to somebody he shouldn’t have been sharing this information with.”
While Denise didn’t divulge her response to Andrew she admittedly was not impressed.
She said, “Back in the day, I liked a vodka or two, and all I can say is he got up to leave, walked around to the top of the table, put his hand on my then-husband’s shoulder and said, ‘Rather you than me, sir.'”
The audience gasped and Nadia clarified: “Because you’d told him how you felt?” Denise nodded. “I absolutely did tell him how I felt! I was very, very cross.”
The admission was part of a segment called Have We Lost Our Love for the Royals?
(Image: Getty)
