Explosive new court documents have revealed a previously unknown connection between Sarah, Duchess of York and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, shedding new light on royal associations with the disgraced financier.
The unsealed files from Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell show that Ferguson sent a handwritten thank you note to Maxwell in 1999 after staying at the Queen's Balmoral estate with her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
The Balmoral Invitation
According to the documents, Ferguson wrote to Maxwell: "It was the greatest pleasure to see you at Balmoral. I so appreciated your sweet and loving understanding of my situation." The note adds a troubling dimension to the royal family's connections with Epstein's inner circle.
The correspondence emerged as part of the massive document release from Giuffre's long-running lawsuit, which has already implicated several high-profile figures in Epstein's network.
Royal Connections Under Scrutiny
While Prince Andrew's association with Epstein has been widely documented, this revelation marks the first concrete evidence of Sarah Ferguson's direct involvement with Epstein's circle. The timing of the note - just years before Epstein's first criminal conviction - raises questions about how deeply embedded these connections were within elite social circles.
The documents confirm that Ferguson maintained contact with Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
Wider Implications
This disclosure comes at a sensitive time for the royal family, still dealing with the fallout from Prince Andrew's settlement with Virginia Giuffre in 2022. The emergence of another royal connection to the Epstein scandal threatens to reopen old wounds and raises fresh questions about the extent of aristocratic involvement with the convicted sex offender.
Legal experts suggest these documents could prompt further scrutiny of how British high society interacted with Epstein and his associates during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
