An email concerning a former assistant of Sarah Ferguson, who was owed nearly $60,000 in unpaid wages, was discovered on the desk of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

Captured in a photograph taken in Epstein’s office in 2015, the email was addressed to Amanda Thirsk, who previously served as a close aide to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Under the subject ‘Settlement – John O’Sullivan,’ the email detailed a reimbursement agreement for $59,933, approximately £44,433, involving Mr. O’Sullivan and the former Duke and Duchess.

However, reports indicated that, two months later, on February 17, 2011, the payment had yet to be fulfilled.

The existence of the email came to light when American photographer Christopher Anderson posted on Instagram about a photoshoot he conducted at Epstein’s home for a story that was eventually shelved.

The reasons behind the presence of the four-year-old email on Epstein’s desk during the session remain unclear.

But Sarah Ferguson previously admitted she had used £15,000 of Epstein’s funds to help clear her debts to former staff member Mr O’Sullivan, who was owed a total of £78,000.

The email read: ‘Dear Amanda, I have expressed my concern to you that despite all our concerted efforts I still remain unpaid. 

An email about a former personal assistant to Sarah Ferguson being owed almost $60,000 in wages and sent to the former Duke and Duchess was photographed in Jeffrey Epstein’s office

The email was photographed during a shoot of Epstein in his office for New York Magazine in 2015

‘The financial arrangements have been agreed directly between the Duke, the Duchess and I for some 2 months. 

‘Yet from what I understand there is no plan in place to pay me the $59,933 I am now clearly owed. I agreed to reduce the amount I am owed by the Duchess in wages from $72,596 to $59,933 in order to reach an agreement with the Duke and Duchess. 

‘The Duchess then emailed me, twice, to say that my offer was to receive this money lightly given the debts incurred as an acceptable to both her and the Duke. 

‘I did not waive my right result of this non-payment and resulting struggle I have endured to try and support myself and pay for my MBA course at Columbia.’

The photo of the paper shows the email was sent to Ms Thirsk, Andrew and Sarah, with the former prince commenting: ‘Er?’

Epstein was released from prison in July 2009, having served 13 months of an 18 month sentence for soliciting prostitution from girls as young as 14.

Just under 18 months later, in December 2010, Epstein agreed to pay £15,000 owed in unpaid wages and other bills to Mr O’Sullivan.

The deal, orchestrated by Prince Andrew, allowed a wider restructuring of the Duchess’s debts, which were approaching £5 million at that point.

The email, snapped on a piece of paper in Epstein’s office by a photographer in 2015, was addressed to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s previous right-hand woman Amanda Thirsk (left)

Photographs of Sarah Ferguson and her former husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have been published by the US Department of Justice as part of releases of the so-called Epstein files (Pictured: Sarah Ferguson in image released by the DOJ)

City accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, who were brought in to review the duchess’s finances, offered her creditors just 25p for every pound they were owed, it was reported at the time.

But two long-standing personal assistants were understood to have refused the offer: Kate Waddington, who was owed £75,000, and Mr O’Sullivan.

‘A number of friends’ including Epstein were reportedly brought in to help repay the two staff members.

After the payment from Epstein was revealed in the national press, Ferguson was forced to issue a grovelling apology for having accepted his help despite his conviction. 

Ferguson said: ‘I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me.

‘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 have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.’

But, as the Mail on Sunday revealed in September, weeks later she wrote to him and apologised, calling him a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’ and claiming she only made the comments in a bid to save her career as a children’s author.

Christopher Anderson (pictured) revealed a collection of never-before-seen images of Epstein on Tuesday after finding an old hard drive

The email revealed today was addressed to Amanda Thirsk, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former top aide.

She worked for the royal for 15 years before being sacked over the fallout from his infamous Newsnight interview.

It was said at the time that she had been instrumental in persuading Andrew to do the interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis. 

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, photographer Mr Anderson said he had been working for the New York Magazine when he was assigned to ‘make a portrait of Epstein’.

He said on Instagram that he was greeted by a ‘young woman with an Eastern European accent’ at the door, who he later saw ‘setting up a massage table’ in another room.

Mr Anderson claimed Epstein had offered him $20,000 to own the images after they had been published.

He continued: ‘Several days later, he decided to pull out of the story and started calling me to demand the pictures. 

‘I reiterated that the pictures were not his until after publication. Then the threats started.’

The photographer alleged that Epstein’s bodyguard turned up at his studio ‘to intimidate me’, and that he ended up handing over the hard drive containing the images while the New York Magazine decided to kill the story. 

He added: ‘Today, I found the copy on a very old hard drive.’ 

The Daily Mail has attempted to contact John O’Sullivan for comment.