Sarah Ferguson has been stripped of her Freedom of the City of York title after councillors voted unanimously to remove the honour over her links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The decision was made during a meeting at the Guildhall in York on Thursday evening, following fresh revelations about her connections to the disgraced financier.
Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley said during the debate: “We now know, following the release of thousands of documents, that Sarah Ferguson too had a close friendship with Epstein, which continued well beyond his conviction. We don’t expect recipients of York’s highest honour to be saints. We simply do not want them to be best friends of convicted paedophiles.” He added that the move would help “wipe the slate clean” and “draw a line” under the city’s associations with both Ferguson and Prince Andrew.
Labour councillor Anna Baxter argued that the honour should reflect modern values, stating: “We are not living in 1987, and it is right that the honours associated with our city reflect the values of York today.” Council leader Claire Douglas said those who continued to associate with Epstein after his crimes became widely known “fall well short” of the expectations required to hold the status.
The honour was originally granted to Ferguson and Prince Andrew as a wedding present in 1987. Andrew was stripped of his Freedom of the City of York in 2022, becoming the first person to have the title removed. The motion to revoke Ferguson’s honour was passed under Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972.
In the wake of the Epstein files publication, six companies linked to Ferguson have begun winding down, and her charity, Sarah’s Trust, announced it would close “for the foreseeable future”. The Press Association has approached her representative for comment.
