Sarah Ferguson has been stripped of the Freedom of the City of York honour, following a unanimous vote by councillors who cited her friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The former Duchess of York, 66, was awarded the honour in 1987, a year after marrying Prince Andrew, who lost the same title in 2022.
The decision comes after the release of thousands of documents by the US Department of Justice, which revealed emails between Ferguson and Epstein. In one email, she told the financier to “just marry me”, while others referenced her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Councillor Darryl Smalley said during the debate: “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.”
City of York Council leader Claire Douglas stated: “Honorary Freedom is bestowed only on persons of distinction… Those who continued to associate with Epstein after his crimes became widely known fall well short of these expectations.” She added that removing the honour was “the right decision to take to maintain the integrity and standing of this important York honour.”
Ferguson has kept a low profile since the emails were published. She was last photographed on December 12, 2025, at the christening of her granddaughter. Reports suggest she checked into the Paracelsus Recovery Clinic in Zurich after Christmas and later visited a spa in Ireland.
