Sarah Ferguson arranged to visit convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein twice in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2009 while he was on work release from jail, according to leaked emails that appear to show the Duchess of York referring to him as ‘The Great One’. The exchanges, reported this week and attributed to an examination of Epstein’s files, place Sarah Ferguson in close contact with the disgraced financier months after he had pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution.
Epstein was serving an 18‑month sentence in Palm Beach County Jail after his 2008 plea deal, but was allowed out on a controversial work release programme that let him work up to 16 hours a day, six days a week, at a non‑profit called the Florida Science Foundation. That arrangement, signed off by local authorities, meant he could receive visitors away from his cell, a loophole that now looks even more uncomfortable for those who chose to see him.
The newly highlighted emails, first obtained from a 2009 cache and reported by The Daily Mail, sit awkwardly alongside Ferguson’s later insistence that she regretted her ties to Epstein and was ‘taken in by his lies’. Her relationship with him has long been a sore point for the royals, particularly after he helped pay off some of her debts. The tone of the messages, though, goes beyond simple gratitude.
On 4 April 2009, Ferguson allegedly wrote to Epstein as she prepared to land in Palm Beach. ‘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…’ she wrote, signing off, ‘Love Sarah The red Head.!!’ The punctuation alone tells you this was not some stiff, arms‑length communication.
Epstein replied, agreeing to meet and providing the address of his office, according to the emails. After the visit, he sent another message complimenting her appearance, saying she looked ‘great’ and adding that he had read ‘everything you gave me, too many pictures… not enough substance i.e. numbers’. The line appears to refer to some sort of business material, although the documents released so far do not spell out what exactly they were discussing.
Ferguson’s response, as quoted in the report, was effusive. ‘My dear spectacular and special friend Jeffrey. You are a legend, and I am so proud of you… for being such a great friend,’ she wrote. It is the kind of gushing language that is hard to square with later claims that she had only a passing, ill‑judged association with the man.
Sarah Ferguson’s Second Epstein Meeting And That Nickname
The news came after it emerged that the April visit was not a one‑off. In May 2009, Ferguson allegedly wrote again to confirm a second trip during Epstein’s work release.
‘I am coming into Palm Beach to see you on Wednesday. I land at 9.30am,’ she wrote, asking if his ‘brilliant (driver)’ could collect her, bring her to him, ‘The Great one!!’ and then take her on to Miami. She added, ‘Please with roses on top!’ The nickname, capitalised in the emails, is likely to haunt her for some time.
Epstein reportedly agreed and instructed his staff to ‘please coordinate’ the meeting. The correspondence forms part of a wider trove of Epstein material that continues to drip into the public domain, keeping his powerful network under relentless scrutiny even years after his death. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify these emails, so everything should be taken with a grain of salt.
These are not, however, the only alleged messages linking Ferguson to the financier. Earlier leaks suggested she once joked that he should ‘just marry’ her, underlining what looks like a remarkably relaxed rapport with a man already convicted of a sex offence at the time. None of this amounts to criminal wrongdoing on her part, but reputationally it is brutal stuff.
For starters, the timing is damning. By 2009, Epstein’s plea and the fact that he had procured a minor for prostitution were already public record. This was not a case of someone discovering much later what he had been up to. Ferguson was flying into Palm Beach to see a man who was literally on release from jail.
A ‘Spectacular Friend’ She Now Condemns
Last year, as questions about the late financier’s web of connections intensified once again, a spokesperson for Sarah Ferguson tried to draw a line under her link to him. In a statement cited by the BBC, the spokesperson said the Duchess had expressed her ‘regret about her association with Epstein many years ago’.
‘Her first thoughts are with his victims,’ the statement continued. ‘Like many people, she was taken in by his lies. 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.’
That account suggests a woman who woke up to the horror, cut ties and spoke out, only to face legal pushback. It may all be true. The problem is that the resurfaced messages show Ferguson calling Epstein a ‘legend’ and ‘The Great One’ at a point when his conviction was not in dispute. Being ‘taken in’ becomes a harder sell when court records were already there in black and white.
The Palace has not issued fresh comment on the newly reported emails, and Ferguson’s camp has so far stuck to the broader line that she regrets ever dealing with Epstein. Law enforcement bodies in Florida, including Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, have previously defended the legality of Epstein’s work release programme but faced fierce criticism over how generous the arrangement was.
For context, Ferguson’s ex‑husband, Prince Andrew, settled a civil sexual assault case in the United States with Virginia Giuffre, who said Epstein trafficked her to him, a claim Andrew has always denied. That payout, and his subsequent withdrawal from public royal duties, turned the Epstein scandal into a direct headache for the monarchy. Ferguson has publicly supported Andrew, calling him a ‘kind’ and ‘good man’, which only complicates the optics of her own past dealings with Epstein.
Online, reaction to the leaked emails has been unsurprisingly sharp, with critics accusing Ferguson of rewriting history and supporters arguing that she, like many others, misjudged Epstein at the time. Some royal watchers say the tone of the emails shows an ingrained culture of entitlement around who certain people choose to keep in their orbit. Others shrug that nothing about the Epstein saga shocks them anymore, which might be the saddest comment of all.
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