By Marisa Laudadio
11:40am PST, Feb 18, 2026
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Newly revealed emails, a fresh interview and insider claims are reviving questions about how close
Sarah Ferguson once was to convicted predator
Jeffrey Epstein, renewing scrutiny about the true depth of the former Duchess of York's connection to the disgraced financier.
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Royals author
Andrew Lownie, who released the book
Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York in 2025, revisited Sarah Ferguson's ties to Jeffrey Epstein during a recent episode of his "Lownie Report" podcast on
Substack. He claimed that Fergie, ex-husband
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Epstein and the financier's ex and co-conspirator
Ghislaine Maxwell were all intimately involved with one another at different times over the years. "I've heard that Epstein and Sarah were … together. It doesn't surprise me," Lownie said. The author further told
The Mirror, "Sarah Ferguson was madly in love with Epstein and apparently spent several nights with him."
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In July 2025, Ghislaine Maxwell — who's serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking — gave a prison interview to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, telling him, "I thought that Sarah [Ferguson] was trying to put the moves on Jeffrey [Epstein], if I'm being honest, and I thought the whole thing was annoying and I was p***** off." Royals author Andrew Lownie shared on a recent episode of his "Lownie Report" podcast that there was "a complicated psychos***** network going on as well as a financial one. Certainly Ghislaine and Sarah were not friends. I think Ghislaine was rather jealous of Sarah and vice versa. She felt that Sarah was moving in on someone she saw as her boyfriend."
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In the wake of the U.S. Justice Department's release of additional Jeffrey Epstein files, correspondence between Sarah Ferguson and the late financier has surfaced that not only contradicts her claims she cut ties with him following his 2008 solicitation conviction but paints her as having warm feelings for the convicted predator. While publicly denouncing Epstein, the former Duchess of York — who received financial help from Epstein over the years — was privately calling him a "supreme friend," "the brother I have always wished for" and a "legend" who deserved "my love [and] gratitude for your generosity and kindness." Documents reveal she also told him, "I am at your service. Just marry me."
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Newly released correspondence also highlights the shifting emotional tone of Sarah Ferguson's messages to Jeffrey Epstein, including one set of emails marked by celebration then almost immediate frustration. "Don't know if you are still on this bbm [BlackBerry Messenger] but heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy," one 2011 message read. (It was not previously known that Epstein had any children.) "Even though you never kept in touch, I still am here with love, friendship and congratulations on your baby boy. Sarah xx." That attitude changed dramatically minutes later.
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Eight minutes after sending Jeffrey Epstein a congratulatory email in 2011, Sarah Ferguson wrote him again, striking a markedly different tone. "You have disappeared. I did not even know you were having a baby. It was sooooo crystal clear to me that you were only friends with me to get to Andrew. And that really hurt me deeply. More than you will know," the former Duchess of York wrote.
