Sarah Ferguson and Princess Beatrice on June 17, 2025.Credit : Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

Sarah Ferguson appears to have discussed press coverage about her connection to Jeffrey Epstein with her daughter Princess Beatrice, who was just 22 at the time, emails suggest
Emails from the Department of Justice’s latest drop also suggest Epstein claimed that Beatrice “likes” him
Sources tell PEOPLE that Princess Beatrice and her sister, Princess Eugenie, “feel pretty duped” as revelations continue to emerge about the extent of their parents’ links to Epstein

Sarah Ferguson said she discussed press coverage surrounding her ties to Jeffrey Epstein with her then-22-year-old daughter Princess Beatrice, emails suggest.

The Department of Justice released new documents related to Epstein on Jan. 30, including an email exchange between Ferguson, Epstein and her then-spokesperson James Henderson from April 2011. In the emails, Sarah denies bringing up “p.” — believed to stand for pedophilia, based on comments attributed to Ferguson in the press around the time — in the media and discusses her phone calls with journalist Geordie Greig.

In the email exchange, Ferguson claims she spoke to the media because she “had to protect my own brand” but “would not want to hurt Jeffrey anymore, by saying such an untruth.”

Furthermore, she appears to say Princess Beatrice was a “witness” to her call with the journalist and discussed a follow-up to the conversation.

“After I hung up from our call with Geordie. Beatrice and I had a discussion and we agreed it was important to call Geordie back and make sure he understood the severity of NOT making a mistake and getting it wrong about Jeffrey, because he was sent to prison for sexual offending, but that he had done his penence and was out of jail and moving on with his life,” Ferguson said in the email, presumably referring to Epstein’s 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. “And Geordie was NOT in anyway to go down the P. route.”

“I duly did the call,” Ferguson allegedly wrote, adding that Beatrice was a “witness” to it.

Sarah Ferguson and Princess Beatrice in March 2011.Indigo/Getty

An interview with Ferguson, now 66, was published in the London Evening Standard in March 2011 about her ties to Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 awaiting trial on federal conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. There, she apologized for accepting money from Epstein.

“I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me,” she said. She reportedly continued: “I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say. Whenever I can I will repay the money and will have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.”

However, The Sun and The Mail on Sunday first reported in September that Ferguson sent Epstein an effusive email weeks later praising him as “a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.”

Another email from 2015 shows a redacted sender seemingly alerting Epstein that “Princess Beatrice will be joining” their group during a trip to Mexico. “I can see the headlines already. 🙂 Do you still talk to them?” the sender wrote.

Epstein responded, “She likes me it’s ok.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Ferguson and Princess Beatrice for comment.

Jeffrey Epstein; the former Prince Andrew; Sarah Ferguson.Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty; Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty; Mike Marsland/WireImage

PEOPLE previously reported that Princess Beatrice, now 37, was also present for a meeting ahead of her father’s, the former Prince Andrew’s, 2019 BBC Newsnight interview surrounding his ties to Epstein, which led to him stepping back from his public royal role.

Producer Sam McAlister called the surprise guest the “curveball of curveballs” in an interview with PEOPLE: “To have prepared to do this incredibly important negotiation and then have to do it on these sensitive and difficult subjects in front of his young daughter really was taking an already extraordinary experience to the next level. Nothing prepares you for a professional experience like that.”

Sources tell PEOPLE that Princess Beatrice and her sister, Princess Eugenie, 35, “feel pretty duped” as fresh revelations continue to emerge about the full extent of their parents’ links to the convicted sex offender.

“They are pretty torn because they believed [their father],” says renowned royal author Robert Jobson. “Just like the late Queen and Charles, Andrew told them all the same story — that he had done nothing wrong. My understanding is they feel pretty duped by the whole thing.”

“I’m shocked by what’s come out,” Jobson adds. “They were only 19 or 20-year-olds at the time. If, at that age, your parents say we are going to see someone who’s a friend of theirs, you don’t think much about it beyond that.”

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice on Christmas 2025.Henry NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty

King Charles stripped Andrew of his royal titles and honors in October. However, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie — who are not working members of the royal family and have private jobs — were not affected by the move. The sisters spent Christmas with the royal family, as their father and mother were kept out of the gathering.