Sarah Ferguson seemingly made a crude reference to her daughter Princess Eugenie in an email she once sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A 2010 email purportedly written by the former Duchess of York, 66, was released on Friday, January 30, as part of over 3 million files obtained by the Justice Department from Epstein’s estate. Archived material is being publicly unsealed in compliance with the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in 2025.
These specific emails were exchanged between Epstein and a contact called “Sarah” — presumed to be Ferguson — on March 21, 2010. Epstein initially wondered whether Ferguson would visit him in New York City, where he was residing at the time.
The contact, “Sarah,” replied, “Not sure yet. Just waiting for Eugenie to come back from a shagging weekend!!”
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“Shagging weekend” is a British slang term used to insinuate that someone is going to spend the weekend having sex. At the time, Princess Eugenie was just two days away from turning 20 and was spending time with her then-boyfriend (and future husband) Jack Brooksbank, per multiple media reports. (Eugenie, now 35, and Brooksbank, 39, tied the knot in 2018 and share two sons, August, 4, and Ernest, 2.)
Us Weekly has reached out to Ferguson’s spokesperson for comment.
The timing of these emails is notable since Epstein had already pleaded guilty to procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute in 2008. He was sentenced to 18 months in a minimum security prison, though he was completing the final months of his confinement under house arrest by March 2010, reported The Palm Beach Post.
The latest unsealed evidence from the Justice Department also included a separate email chain between Epstein and “Sarah” from January 2010, where she told the sex offender to “marry me.”
“You are a legend,” Epstein’s contact, “Sarah,” wrote on January 30, 2010. “I really don’t have the words to describe, my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness. Xx I am at your service . Just marry me.”
This is far from the first time Ferguson’s relationship with Epstein has caused controversy. In October 2025, several U.K. outlets published conciliatory messages that Ferguson allegedly sent the disgraced financier in 2011 after she’d already publicly distanced herself from him.
Ferguson described Epstein as “a supreme friend” and denied that she’d called him “the P word” (pedophile) in a March 2011 interview in which she’d disparaged her friendship with the convicted sex offender as “a gigantic error of judgment.” (Epstein allegedly helped Ferguson pay off debts in 2010.)
“I know you feel hellaciously let down by me, and I must humbly apologize to you and your heart for that,” Ferguson allegedly wrote to Epstein in 2011. “I am apologizing to you today for not replying to your email or reaching out to you. I was bedridden with fear. I was paralyzed.”
Her spokesperson insisted in October 2025 that Ferguson only sent the conciliatory message to “counter an aggressive threat Epstein had made to sue her for defamation.”
“The duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been, her first thoughts are with his victims. Like many people, she was taken in by his lies,” her representative told the Daily Mail. “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.”
Ferguson’s spokesperson continued, “She does not resile from anything she said then. This email was sent in the context of advice the Duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.”
Epstein died by suicide at age 66 in August 2019 after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. (Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking in 2021.)
The Justice Department’s latest round of disclosures from the so-called “Epstein Files” included additional documents about Bill Gates and Ferguson’s ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Mountbatten-Windsor appeared to be present alongside an unknown woman in at least three new photos, including one where he kneeled over her on all fours. (The woman’s face was redacted to protect her privacy.)
An email sent by Epstein to his contact “The Duke” — presumed to be Mountbatten-Windsor — in August 2010 saw the convicted sex offender offering to set up the royal with a 26-year-old Russian woman who he described as “clevere [sic] beautiful [and] trustworthy.” In one September 2010 message, “The Duke” proposed that he and Epstein meet privately at Buckingham Palace.
Mountbatten-Windsor, 65, has always denied any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein. Nonetheless, he announced in October 2025 that he would give up his royal titles as pressure mounted over the scandal. (Ferguson stopped publicly using her royal titles in solidarity with Mountbatten-Windsor.)
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“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” Mountbatten-Windsor said in a statement to Us at the time “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”
He added, “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honors which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
Buckingham Palace confirmed days later that King Charles III planned to strip his brother of his royal titles and compel Mountbatten-Windsor to move out of his home at Royal Lodge, which he acquired as part of a peppercorn lease agreement in 2003.
“[Mountbatten-Windsor’s] lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence,” Buckingham Palace told Us in a statement. “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
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Mountbatten-Windsor is expected to move to Marsh Farm on Charles’ private Sandringham estate later this year. Ferguson — who has resided at Royal Lodge with her ex-husband since 2008 — will also be required to move out of the residence in the coming weeks.
If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
