They are the damning photos which show just how close Sarah Ferguson became to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Twenty years after these photographs emerged, showing the Duchess of York with Epstein’s staff, Fergie’s reputation has suffered significantly due to new revelations indicating she deceitfully misrepresented her relationship with him.

Shocking emails acquired by The Mail on Sunday revealed that just weeks following her public denouncement of the disgraced billionaire in 2011, she sent him an effusive private email, describing him as a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’.

She also admitted that she only distanced herself from him to save her own reputation.

The duchess was further humiliated last night after seven charities publicly cut ties with her over the damning revelations.

Others were said to be reviewing their positions following the publication of her grovelling messages to the notorious sex predator.

This development intensifies the pressure on the King to exclude Sarah and her former spouse, Prince Andrew, from even private family functions, and to find a solution to remove them permanently from Royal Lodge, their residence in Windsor.

Children’s hospice Julia’s House was the first to dump the duchess yesterday, saying the correspondence made it ‘inappropriate for her to continue as a patron’.

Sarah Ferguson pictured with Jeffrey Epstein’s housekeeper Jun-Lyn Fontanilla in February 2010

The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, set up in memory of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died at 15 from an allergic reaction, said it had dropped the royal as a patron after being ‘disturbed’ by the revelations.

Then, in what will be a particularly devastating blow for the duchess, given her own diagnosis in 2023, she was dropped by Prevent Breast Cancer.

The charity said: ‘The Duchess of York is no longer a patron of Prevent Breast Cancer. We have advised her of this decision and thank her for her past support.’

A few hours later, the Children’s Literacy Charity said it had asked her to step down as patron, calling any continued role ‘inappropriate,’ before one of her longest patronages, the Teenage Cancer Trust, joined the stampede.

Fergie has been an active patron of the charity since 1990. Her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are still patrons.

The final nail in the coffin was the British Heart Foundation, which quickly removed her photograph from its website.

It said: ‘Sarah, Duchess of York, is no longer serving as an ambassador. We are grateful for the Duchess’ support for our work and thank her for her past efforts.’

This was followed by the National Foundation For Retired Service Animals, which said they had ‘mutually agreed’ that she would ‘step back from her position as patron with immediate effect’.

Now, cosy photos with Epstein’s staff will haunt Sarah further.

In a series of snaps, the Duchess posed with JoJo Fontanilla, one of Epstein’s drivers, and Jun-Lyn Fontanilla, one of his housekeepers, at his £60million mansion in New York.

She and Prince Andrew posed for multiple images with their arms around the Fontanillas, pictures which show just how chummy they were with the late financier.

The duchess pictured with the disgraced financier’s driver Jojo Fontanilla in the streets of Manhattan. The photos show just how close she became to paedophile Epstein

The images were posted on Facebook in 2010, the year that Andrew claimed to have broken off his friendship with Epstein, but could have been taken earlier.

The Duchess had claimed to the Evening Standard in March 2011 that it was a ‘gigantic error of judgment’ to take £15,000 from Epstein to pay off her debts.

But the following month she sent him a fawning email, describing him as her ‘supreme friend’ and claiming that she only spoke out publicly because she feared her career as a children’s author would be destroyed.

These photos show Andrew and Sarah were not just on good terms with their paedophile friend – they were close to his staff too.

The pictures see the Duchess standing with JoJo Fontanilla in the streets of Manhattan while smiling and holding a bag.

In one image she puts both hands around the shoulders of Jun-Lyn Fontanilla and in another she stands with both the Fontanillas while wearing a brightly coloured scarf around her neck.

Most of the images appear to have been taken inside Epstein’s Manhattan home, where the creepy decorations included a bride clinging to a rope in the central atrium.

One commenter wrote: ‘Wow! You are in the company of royalty!’

Prince Andrew pictured with Jun-Lyn and her husband Jojo. It puts more pressure on the King to finally evict Sarah and Prince Andrew from Royal Lodge, their Windsor mansion

The blurry photo of Andrew was posted by Jun-Lyn and shows him standing with her and her husband.

Previously released records also show the depth of the friendship between Andrew and Sarah and Epstein, who hanged himself in 2019 while awaiting trial for child sex trafficking.

Andrew knew Epstein for at least a decade and emails show they appear to have stayed in touch after 2010, when he claimed in his car crash BBC interview he ended their friendship.

Flight logs from Epstein’s planes show he met the duchess in 1998 in the Bahamas, where she was travelling with her children at the time.

Sarah even appears to have visited Epstein while he was under house arrest for having sex with underage girls.

The paedophile began his 13-month sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008 and was released in July 2009.

During his 12-month-long house arrest, he was allowed to fly to his home in New York under the terms of his confinement from a Florida court that expired in July 2010.

In a calendar scheduling entry for March 3, 2010, Epstein’s assistant wrote: ‘Still need to try and schedule the Duchess for Tues or Wed (I have emailed her assistant, Amanda, RE a meeting).’

Sarah pictured in the back of a Range Rover as she is driven from Royal Lodge at Windsor on Monday

The ‘Amanda’ appears to be Amanda Thirsk, who worked for the Royal household for decades.

Epstein replied: ‘Duchess anytime.’

A spokesman for the duchess declined to comment on the developments last night, but they will have hit her hard.

During her public travails – including disastrous business decisions and her spendthrift ways, which twice brought her to the brink of bankruptcy – Sarah has prided herself as being a ‘global philanthropist’.

It is likely to have a knock-on effect on her current business deals, which include children’s books as well as historical romances. She also has film consultancy roles and recently brought out a range of teas.

The scandal has caused concern at Buckingham Palace, even though she holds no public roles and it has little control over what she says or does.

In recent years she has been brought in from the cold and allowed to join the Royal Family at more non-official events, including the walk to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day and Easter at Windsor. She and Andrew were also present at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral last week.

Andrew receives no public money or taxpayer-funded security and the King even stripped him of the personal stipend he was previously paid by Queen Elizabeth in the hope it might force him to downsize from Royal Lodge and adopt a more frugal existence. Charles even offered to reinstate his personal funding to Andrew if he does, and help him with the costs of private security.

But Andrew has proved stubborn, arguing he has a cast-iron lease with the Crown Estate, and as long as he makes the payments his brother cannot evict him.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is seen driving from Royal Lodge at Windsor on the morning of Monday, September 22, 2025

However, the loss of any business deals as a result of the latest scandal could play to the King’s advantage. Some believe that, given Andrew’s own financial difficulties, Sarah has become more of the main breadwinner and been bailing her ex-husband out.

If her own commercial activities are hit, then the couple may have no choice but to downsize and beg the King for help.

In 2010, as Sarah was almost £5million in debt and facing bankruptcy for the second time, Epstein, in a deal orchestrated by Andrew, agreed to fund a £15,000 pay-off to her then-personal assistant for unpaid wages and bills.

The outcry led her to offer a ‘heartfelt apology’ for accepting the cash, expressing her regret for ever getting involved with Epstein and saying it was a ‘gigantic error of judgment on my behalf’.

However, the MoS revealed that just weeks later she wrote Epstein a ‘desperate email’ in which she said: ‘You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.’

Referring to ‘paedophile’ as ‘the “P” word’, she added: ‘I did not, absolutely not, say the “P” word about you but understand that it was reported that I did.’

She went on to complain that both she and Epstein, who was sent to jail for soliciting a minor for sex, ‘are, and have both been, in the firing line’ and ‘both blamed for stuff we have not done’.

A spokesman for the duchess has said: ‘She deeply regrets any association with him and abhors paedophilia. She had worked for many years to support vulnerable young people. Like many people she was taken in by his lies.’

The Daily Mail has contacted Epstein’s lawyers for comment.