The Duchess of York has been removed as a patron of Julia's House, a children's hospice charity, following the recent public revelation of private email correspondence with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. These emails, sent in 2011 after Epstein's initial sexual assault conviction, showed the Duchess privately praising him as a "steadfast, generous, and supreme friend," despite her earlier public condemnation of him. Julia's House stated her continued patronage would be inappropriate, and other charities associated with the Duchess are now reviewing their affiliations.
Duchess of York Removed as Charity Patron Amid Epstein Email Controversy
0:00 The Duchess of York has been removed as a patron of Julia's House, a children's hospice charity, due to recently revealed email correspondence with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
0:09 Julia's House, a children's hospice serving families in Dorset and Wiltshire in the South of England, stated it would be "inappropriate" for the Duchess to continue as patron, a role she had held since 2018.
1:26 The crucial email exchanges date back to 2011, notably after Jeffrey Epstein had already been convicted of sexual assault.
1:51 In a private email, which was later revealed by The Sun and Mail on Sunday, the Duchess apologized to Epstein, stating he had "always been a steadfast, generous, and supreme friend to me and my family," contradicting her prior public distancing.
2:21 Previously, the Duchess had publicly described her friendship with Epstein as a "gigantic error of judgment." Her spokesperson clarified that the private email was an attempt to mitigate concerns that Epstein might sue her for defamation related to the "pedophile" link.
2:48 While other charities the Duchess is involved with, such as the Teenage Cancer Trust, are reviewing the situation, no further decisions regarding her patronage have been announced yet, leaving a potential "domino effect" uncertain.