Sarah Ferguson has not been seen publicly for months.
But while rumours swirl about the former duchess’s whereabouts and whether she is contemplating a tell-all interview, there are mounting calls for her to give evidence concerning her links to Jeffrey Epstein.
US lawmakers have repeatedly called for her former husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, to answer questions about his links to the late American financier and sex offender. Now Ferguson is being urged to do the same.
Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, a member of the House Oversight Committee investigating the handling of Epstein’s prosecution, said he now believed she had “information related to the investigation”.
“Sarah Ferguson should give sworn testimony to our committee,” he said.
There is no legal mechanism to compel Ferguson to testify in the US.
But Subramanyam told the BBC that lawmakers would be “happy to work out terms that work for her”, as long as she was under oath.
Ferguson’s representatives declined to comment.
Subramanyam’s calls were echoed by Democratic Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, who urged anyone with information of wrongdoing by Epstein and his associates to cooperate in order to ensure justice for the survivors.
“If Ferguson or any member of their family has such information, our responsibility is to follow the facts wherever they lead,” she told the BBC.
The family of prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre also said they “strongly believed” the former Duchess of York should go to the US to answer questions.
“If Ferguson knows anything, she should testify in the United States immediately,” a representative for Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts told the BBC.
Ferguson’s next move has been the subject of speculation.
Rumours are flying that she’s been offered six-figure sums from US networks for an interview.
But “it is hard to tell whether they would now believe she is too tainted,” said Max Goldbart, international TV editor at Deadline.
It comes after new details emerged about the former Duchess of York’s friendship with the late convicted sex offender in the millions of documents released by the US Department of Justice earlier this year.
Being named among the Epstein files is not an indication of wrongdoing.
- Who is in the Epstein files?
But the massive drop of files suggested she was more embroiled in his world than we had previously thought.
She comes across as a needy figure, chasing money and support – apparently describing herself to Epstein as “very traumatised and alone”.
Ferguson is seen praising the late sex offender in 2009 as “the brother I have always wished for”.
A ‘material witness’
The emails also suggest she contacted Epstein while he was in prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor – and that she took her daughters along for lunch with him in Miami, days after his release from prison.
Gloria Allred, a prominent lawyer representing some of Epstein’s victims, said the new revelations make it clear she is “not a victim in this story”.
“While many individuals who are named in the Epstein files are able to claim that they had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes against children when they associated with him, that is not a defence that Sarah Ferguson is able to assert,” she said.
She added it was “long overdue” for Ferguson to volunteer to testify under oath to Congress, and also urged her to speak to police in the UK to answer their questions.
Andrew Lownie, author of the biography Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, also said she should give evidence in the US, calling Ferguson a “material witness”.
“She visited his homes regularly,” Lownie told the BBC.
“She will have seen just as much as Andrew. It’s inconceivable that she didn’t. She was so matey with Epstein.”
But Jonathan Coad, a media lawyer who has represented Ferguson in defamation and privacy cases in the past, said there was “no chance” she would go to the US.
“Of course she won’t, and if she were still my client, my very strong advice to her would be not to go,” he said.
“It would be a disaster for her, for her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie – and also for Andrew, as it would show him up for not going.”
Until now, Ferguson – invariably known as Fergie – has been a great survivor in royal circles and has bounced back repeatedly from misfortunes.
But she has been plagued by her own Epstein controversies – which led to her being dropped by multiple charities last September.
The Youth Impact Council, an LA-based non-profit organisation that supports young leaders, has also confirmed to the BBC that she stepped back from her role as ambassador at the same time.
‘She knows where all the bodies are buried’
In October, she lost her duchess title when her ex-husband relinquished his Duke of York title over his links with Epstein, and she was also forced to move out of his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, where the couple lived together, despite having divorced in 1996.
The former duchess could also have her freedom of the City of York stripped next week, in a further fall from grace.
City of York councillors are meeting on 26 March to discuss a proposal to remove the honour.
Ferguson’s whereabouts are currently unknown, with media reports variously placing her in the United Arab Emirates, Portugal, Switzerland, and at a wellness retreat in Ireland.
But somewhat surprisingly, she has managed to evade being photographed anywhere.
There has also been speculation in the press she has been considering a tell-all memoir
“She knows where all the bodies are buried,” said royal commentator Richard Palmer.
“She certainly must have information that would potentially be embarrassing to the royal household.”
Harper Collins, who have published two titles with Ferguson, declined to comment when asked by the BBC whether they have had any discussions with her about a memoir.
As for the rumours of a tell-all TV interview, Goldbart from Deadline says it might be “somewhat jarring,” but added it would “undoubtedly make for good TV”.
