The arrival of Sarah Ferguson’s elder sister to the UK comes as the former working royal faces mounting pressure following recent revelations about her connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Jane Ferguson Luedecke has travelled from Australia to Britain to support her younger sister Sarah according to royal commentator, Phil Dampier.
Mr Dampier revealed: “I can reveal her older sister Jane has recently flown over from Australia to comfort her in the UK.” He continued to tell Woman’s Day Magazine: “[Sarah] needed support and Jane has been there for her when she needed it.”
The recent turmoil for Sarah Ferguson began when correspondence between Sarah and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein surfaced, revealing she had referred to the financier as a “supreme friend” in 2011.
The friendly email seemed to contradict her public denunciation of Epstein in an interview from a few weeks earlier, in which she had said her involvement with him, including borrowing money, had been a “gigantic error of judgement” and that: “What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed.”
Representatives for Sarah maintain she composed the message to Epstein while fearing potential threats against her family members.
A spokesperson for Fergie said her subsequent email to Epstein, describing him as a friend, was written to counter a threat from him to sue her for defamation – and that she still really regretted any association with him.
“This email was sent in the context of advice the [then] duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats,” said a statement from her spokesman.
The response to the emergence of the email, sent several years after Epstein’s jailing for sex offences in 2008, was for a series of charities to cut their links with Sarah Ferugson, including Teenage Cancer Trust.
Last week, Andrew relinquished his remaining royal titles and honours, including his Duke of York title, in the wake of the latest Epstein scandal.
He will retain his princely title, as is his birthright as the son of a monarch, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will no longer use the Duchess of York title. The decision comes after his friendship with convicted paedophile sex offender Jeffrey Epstein returned to the headlines.
The announcement also included that Prince Andrew “vigorously” denied the accusations made against him.