Princess Eugenie posts first public statement after Sarah Ferguson email scandal

Princess Eugenie posted her first public message Friday since a letter from her mother, Sarah Ferguson, to Jeffrey Epstein, was made public. The email, written in 2011, surfaced amid renewed scrutiny of Ferguson after she described Epstein as a “supreme” friend and apologised for disavowing him in a public statement following his conviction for child sexual abuse offences. The Duchess of York, 65, has since seen several philanthropic partners suspend ties. Eugenie, 35, used Instagram to focus attention on a New York event she hosted with the Anti-Slavery Collective, a charity she co-founded, and to highlight a project examining the link between fashion and forced labor ahead of UN General Assembly and NYC Climate Week.

Eugenie’s post detailed the project: the Anti-Slavery Collective launched a new short film and hosted a roundtable for fashion insiders, reseller platforms, designers, brands, behavioural scientists, fashion press, and illicit trade experts. She described the effort as part of a broader initiative to shine a light on this underreported human rights scandal and to connect fashion industry players with researchers working on modern slavery in supply chains. “The Anti-Slavery Collective have been working on a project showing the connection between fake fashion & forced labour,” she wrote, adding that she was “very proud to host an event to coincide with UNGA and NYC Climate Week to launch this exciting new project, and shine a light on this underreported human rights scandal.” This is only the beginning and I can’t wait to see this project unfold.

The post came as Ferguson’s spokeswoman described what she called a “threatening” period that followed Eugenie’s public disowning of Epstein. James Henderson, who spoke on behalf of Ferguson, said Epstein had telephoned to issue a “chilling” threat to “destroy the York family” in a menacing, Hannibal Lecter-type voice, after Ferguson publicly distanced herself from him. Henderson said the pressure to protect her family “must have been huge,” and that the family would always put their children first. The scandal surrounding Ferguson’s 2011 letter has also touched the late Queen’s legacy of family protection, with Prince Andrew already having relinquished all his public duties and offices as a result of his association with Epstein and barred from attending official royal events.

Royal watchers say Eugenie and her sister Beatrice, who hold HRH titles and sit ninth and 12th in line to the throne respectively, have built public careers and patronages separate from their parents. The controversy now casts a shadow over how they might navigate a future role in the royal sphere. Richard Fitzwilliams, a veteran royal commentator, told the Daily Mail that the sisters’ current projects—Beatrice’s work on dyslexia and Eugenie’s anti-slavery advocacy—are unlikely to be erased, but their public paths could be constrained for a period as the York brand grapples with its tarnished image. “When a brand becomes toxic, its effect obviously spreads to public figures who are attached to it,” Fitzwilliams said. “They are well established as a duo with constructive reach, and for this reason I doubt that any of their current projects will be affected by the toxicity which has affected the York brand.” He added that the sisters’ close connection to their parents could mean a delay in launching new charitable initiatives.

Phil Dampier, a royal author, offered a more cautious view on the prospect of Eugenie and Beatrice expanding their public roles. He said the sisters might be willing to take on greater responsibilities if the King asked, but that prospect now seemed unlikely given their parents’ troubled standing. “Bea and Eugenie will obviously be devastated by what has happened to their parents, but they are old enough and now wise enough to know the truth,” Dampier observed. “They have carved out their own careers and come across as popular and well-balanced individuals.” Nevertheless, the long shadow of the Epstein saga raises questions about the resilience of the Yorks’ public profile as Charles III’s monarchy continues to recalibrate after the King’s ascension.

For Eugenie and Beatrice, the immediate focus remains on their charitable work and personal lives as they navigate a period of heightened scrutiny. They retain links to their patronages and causes—Eugenie with the anti-slavery and ethical fashion initiatives, Beatrice with advocacy for dyslexia—but observers say any expansion into more high-profile royal engagements could be paused while families reckon with the fallout from the scandal. In the short term, the sisters’ public declarations of independence from their parents’ controversies may help maintain momentum for their own projects, even as the broader ethical and reputational questions surrounding the York family persist.