Duchess of York could lose honorary freedom of City of York

The Duchess of York could have her honorary freedom of the City of York removed.

The council’s Labour leader Claire Douglas said “consideration” would be given ahead of November’s full council meeting about tabling a motion on removing the honour.

A number of charities have already severed their links with Sarah Ferguson after an email from 2011 revealed she called sex offender Jeffrey Epstein her “supreme friend” and seemed to apologise for her public criticism of him.

The BBC has approached representatives of the duchess for comment.

The email appears to have been sent by the duchess after she had claimed to have broken off contact with Epstein.

She had described her involvement with him in an interview in 2011 as a “gigantic error of judgment”.

Epstein had been jailed three years earlier for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

However, in the email she described him as a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend”.

A spokesperson previously said the email had been sent to counter a threat from Epstein to sue her for defamation and the duchess still regretted any association with him.

Both the duchess and her former husband Prince Andrew were given the honorary freedom on a visit to the city in 1987.

Prince Andrew had previously had to stand down as a working royal and lost his patronages after challenges over his own associations with Epstein, following an interview with BBC’s Newsnight in 2019.

He was stripped of his honorary freedom in 2022.

In relation to the duchess, Douglas said: “Consideration will be given in advance of that meeting to whether a motion to remove the honorary freedom title from the Duchess of York is tabled.

“We deplore the links and continued associations with Jeffrey Epstein by those carrying the York title beyond the time the gravity of his crimes became clear.”

A decision on tabling the motion, following talks between the council’s different political groups, would have to be made by late next month for it to make November’s meeting agenda.

The 2022 motion to remove Prince Andrew’s honorary freedom was put forward by Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley who said at the time: “Having been stripped of his military roles and royal patronages by the Queen, we believe that it is right to remove all links that Prince Andrew still has with our great city.

“I was pleased to see councillors of all parties support this motion and make it clear that it is no longer appropriate for Prince Andrew to represent York and its residents.”