Sarah Ferguson is set have her Freedom of the City of York honour removed after councillors decided to vote on retaining the honour amidst the fallow from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. A motion proposing to strip the former royal and ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of the honour will be voted on by councillors on Thursday next week. It suggest removing the honour that was given to the mother-of-two when she visited York with her then-husband in 1987.
The vote comes after proposals to strip 66-year-old Ms Ferguson of the honorary status were first mooted in October. This came after an email between her and the late convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein emerged. An email from her to Epstein in 2011 described him as a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to her and her family. It was sent after the disgraced financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008 and after Ms Ferguson said her involvement with him was an error of judgement.
A spokesperson for the former duchess said the email was sent in response to legal threats from Epstein after her comments.
York Council’s Labour leader Cllr Claire Douglas said in October it was deplorable that anyone bearing titles linked to the city associated with Epstein after his crimes became known.
Officials working for the former duchess did not respond to a request from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) for comment at the time.
Ms Ferguson’s ex-husband, the former Duke of York, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in February.
The arrest of the late Queen’s ‘favourite son’ followed the publication of emails between him and Epstein while the former prince was serving as a UK trade envoy. Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing.
Police investigations have also seen leading Labour figure Peter Mandelson arrested, also on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Both men have since been released and have not been charged as investigations continue.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of all his royal titles in October in the wake of revelations about his close association with Epstein.
He resigned from public roles in 2020 and Queen Elizabeth removed him from his honorary military and charitable roles in 2022.
York councillors voted to remove his Freedom of the City honour in 2022 after details of the former prince’s relationship with Epstein emerged.
Councillors said at the time it was inappropriate for the then Duke of York to hold titles linked to the city given the council’s commitment to tackling the violence and abuse of women and girls.
The former prince reached an out of court settlement on a civil sex assault case brought by Virginia Giuffre earlier in 2022, thought to come from £12m handed to him by his late mother.
Ms Ferguson still holds the Freedom of the City honour her and her ex-husband were given as a wedding present during a visit to York in 1987.
The honour has previously been awarded to the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill and Judi Dench.
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