FERGIE TITLE BLOW 

Sarah Ferguson is stripped of Freedom of the City of York title over friendship with paedo Jeffrey Epstein

SARAH Ferguson faced fresh humiliation tonight as she was stripped of the Freedom of the City of York.

An extraordinary meeting of city councillors was convened following the revelations about the former Duchess of York and Jeffrey Epstein.

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Sarah Ferguson has been stripped of her Freedom of the City of York titleCredit: Getty
 

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Andrew was stripped of the honour three years agoCredit: Alamy
 

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The Sun on Sunday exposed how Sarah’s friendship with the late paedo Epstein continued even after she publicly disowned himCredit: AFP
Gwen Swinburne, a member of the public, spoke first, followed by York Council leader Claire Douglas, who proposed the motion.

Ms Swinburne said although removal of the city’s freedom would be a step in the right direction, only removal of all the family’s York titles would do.

She said: “The decision before you tonight should not be a difficult one. It is the absolute minimum of what you should be doing.

“Every day the phrase ‘The York family” appears. Increasingly, it appears as the Disgraced York family. Not just in the UK but All over the world.

“That is what our city’s name is now attached to. It chips away at the reputation of this city – quietly and repeatedly by a thousand cuts.

“If you remove the freedom of the city you remove one of those cuts but you leave the rest.”

Councillor Douglas said: “Honorary freedom and freedom of the city is bestowed only on persons of distinction and those who have given eminent services to the City of York.

“Those who continue to associate with Jeffrey Epstein when his crimes are known fall well short of this status.

“Sarah Ferguson falls into this category as the Epstein files have shown.”

Darryl Smalley, a Lib Dem councillor, proposed the 2022 motion to revoke Andrew’s freedom of the city.

He said: “It was the first time in the city’s history that the honour had been removed. I was asked at the time if we were also removing the honour from Sarah Ferguson.

“At the time, I thought it wrong to judge someone by the actions of their ex husband. We now know from the release of thousands of documents that Sarah Ferguson too had a close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein that continued long after his conviction.

“We don’t expect recipients of York’s highest honour to be saints. We simply do not want them to be best friends with convicted Pedophiles.”
Councilllors voted unamously to revoke the honour.

Fergie, 65, was awarded the honour as a wedding gift in 1987.

It comes three years after Prince Andrew was also stripped of the honour over links to the disgraced financier.

In September, The Sun on Sunday exposed how Sarah’s friendship with the late paedo Epstein continued even after she publicly disowned him.

Fergie described him as a “supreme friend” in an email sent in 2011, three years after Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor

It came just weeks after she vowed never to have anything to do with the paedo financier again.

In the wake of the scandal she was dropped by seven charities and stripped of her duchess title.

York Council’s Labour leader Cllr Claire Douglas previously said it was deplorable anyone bearing titles linked to the city associated with Epstein.

Fergie has never been accused of wrongdoing over her relationship with Epstein, despite the revelations in the so-called Epstein files.

Emails show she begged Epstein to splash out on first class flights for her and her daughters to see him just days after he walked free from jail.

The desperate ex-Duchess – who was teetering on the brink of  bankruptcy – asked the convicted sex offender to fund a luxury US trip.

It came within within hours of his release under house arrest for child sex offences.

And last month The Sun reported how Fergie also introduced her god-daughter to the convicted paedophile a year after his release from jail.

Emails show she helped set up a meeting between the disgraced financier and then 22-year-old Poppy Cotterell.

Poppy’s late mother Carolyn was one of Fergie’s ladies in waiting and was godmother to her eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice.

These messages were discovered among millions of documents released as part of the Epstein files.

The ex-Duchess’ whereabouts remain a mystery as Epstein allegations continue to swirl around her and ex-hubby Andrew.

The former Duke of York, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in February.

Andrew was quizzed at Aylsham police station in Norfolk over suspicions of slipping state secrets to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and later released.

We revealed how ex-Royal Highness Prince Andrew was labelled just plain Detainee A when arrested.

His arrest followed the publication of emails between him and paedo Epstein while the former prince was serving as a UK trade envoy.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of all his royal titles in October in the wake of revelations about his association with Epstein.

He resigned from public roles in 2020 and Queen Elizabeth removed him from his honorary military and charitable roles in 2022.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing.

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On the back of the scandal Fergie has been dumped as a patron by seven charitiesCredit: Getty
 

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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public officeCredit: Reuters
 

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Andrew was quizzed over suspicions of slipping state secrets to Epstein and later releasedCredit: Jae Donnelly