Beatrice Offered PR Advice to Sarah Ferguson to Backtrack on Her Epstein Comments
In the email, Sarah Ferguson said Princess Beatrice was present when she told a journalist that it was 'wrong' to call Epstein a sex offender.
Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of child sexual abuse that some readers may find distressing.
Amid the latest Epstein file release, public sympathy largely centered on Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who were seen as collateral damage in their parents' scandals. While it is known that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson maintained a close friendship with the disgraced financier, it seems now that even Beatrice was involved in preserving that relationship. A newly unearthed correspondence shows the former Duchess of York referencing her elder daughter's advice on how to backtrack on her negative comments about Epstein.
The 2011 email, released by the US Department of Justice, showed Ferguson conversing with the disgraced financier and her then-spokesperson, James Henderson. In it, she denied bringing up 'p,' believed to stand for pedo******, based on comments she made about Epstein in the press at the time. Furthermore, she said that Beatrice was a 'witness' to her call with journalist Geordie Greig and discussed the follow-up conversation. She wrote, "Beatrice and I had a discussion, and we agreed it was important to call Geordie back and make sure he understood the severity of NOT making a mistake and getting it wrong about Jeffrey, because he was sent to prison for sexual offending, but that he had done his penance and was out of jail and moving on with his life."
For those unversed, the former Duchess of York was referring to a March 2011 interview published in the London Evening Standard, addressing her ties to Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 for indecent relations with minors. In the sit-down, she said, "I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me," adding, "I abhor paedo****** and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say."
Unsurprisingly, considering her parents' close ties to Epstein, another email showed a redacted sender informing the disgraced financier that "Princess Beatrice will be joining" their group during a trip to Mexico. "I can see the headlines already. :) Do you still talk to them?" the sender wrote. To which Epstein responded, "She [Beatrice] likes me, it's ok." Moreover, the elder York daughter is also said to have played a key role in facilitating Mountbatten-Windsor's disastrous 2019 BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis. New evidence shows she attended a pre-interview meeting with producer Sam McAlister, arriving prepared with a notebook and pen.
During the now-infamous interview, the then-Prince Andrew cited Beatrice as part of his alibi, claiming he was picking her up from a Pizza Express party on the evening he allegedly abused Virginia Giuffre. Speaking about the aftermath of the sit-down, McAlister told PEOPLE, "To have prepared to do this incredibly important negotiation and then have to do it on these sensitive and difficult subjects in front of his [Andrew's] young daughter really was taking an already extraordinary experience to the next level."
If you know of any children who are being subjected to abuse, please contact The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (224453)
