The latest release of documents by the US Department of Justice has brought Sarah Ferguson’s name into the spotlight once more, linking her to the notorious Jeffrey Epstein. The files, which have captured public interest, contain intriguing exchanges between Ferguson and Epstein. As the mother of Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, her involvement has raised eyebrows, particularly due to a speculative element suggesting Epstein might have fathered a child.

One email, dated September 2011, reveals Ferguson extending warm words to Epstein. She congratulates him with a message that reads, “Don’t know if you’re still on this BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), but have heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy.” The mention of “The Duke” refers to her former husband, Prince Andrew.

Ferguson continues in the email, expressing enduring affection despite their lack of recent communication: “Even though you never kept in touch, I am still here with love, friendship and congratulations on your baby boy.” This correspondence adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing narrative surrounding Epstein and those within his circle.

“Don’t know if you’re still on this bbm (BlackBerry Messenger) but have heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy,” it read.

“The Duke” she refers to is her ex-husband Andrew.

“Even though you never kept in touch, I am still here with love, friendship and congratulations on your baby boy.”

In another chain of emails, Ferguson mentions that Epstein appears to have “disappeared” and wrote “I did not know you were having a baby”.

The chain of emails comes years after Epstein was convicted of his crimes.

It comes as pressure mounts on former prince Andrew to tell investigators what he knew about the New York financier and his network of rich and powerful friends.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents many of Epstein’s victims, said on Monday that Andrew had a duty to provide any evidence that could help investigators understand how Epstein was able to abuse so many women for so long, and who else might have been involved in his crimes.

But the last time Andrew tried to answer questions about his friendship with Epstein it ended in disaster.

After giving a trainwreck interview to Newsnight in 2019, where Andrew revealed his close ties with Epstein, he was pilloried for offering unbelievable explanations for his continued contact despite the financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, and for failing to show empathy for the victims.

Last fall, King Charles III stripped Andrew of his royal titles, including the right to be called a prince, as he tried to insulate the monarchy from the continuing revelations about his younger brother’s relationship with Epstein, which have tarnished the royal family for more than a decade. The former prince is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Andrew has also been ordered to vacate Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion near Windsor Castle that has been his home for more than a decade.

Good luck with asking him to testify

Mountbatten-Windsor has little to lose by ignoring calls for him to testify, and U.S. authorities will find it hard to compel him to appear before Congress, said lawyer Mark Stephens, who handles international and complex cases at Howard Kennedy in London.

“There will be huge pressure and calls for him to (testify), but I don’t think that even if he gets there, even if he gives evidence, it’s going to reveal anything meaningful,” Stephens said.

“I would fully expect him to take the fifth, as Americans say, the privilege against self-incrimination. And so I don’t think, beyond his name, he’s going answer any of the questions either by turning up or not turning up.”

Documents do not show wrongdoing by many of those named; their appearance in the files reflects Epstein’s extremely wide reach.

Not sharing what he knows

Mountbatten-Windsor has previously demonstrated caution about talking to US authorities.

After he stepped away from royal duties in 2019, Mountbatten-Windsor announced that he was willing to help “any appropriate law enforcement agency” with its investigation into Epstein.

But documents released last year showed how 10 months of negotiations between Mountbatten-Windsor’s lawyers and federal prosecutors failed to secure his testimony.

Attorneys for the king’s brother ultimately rejected proposals for their client to be directly interviewed by the prosecutors, either in person or by video. Instead, they proposed that he give his answers in writing, something they said was perfectly acceptable in British courts.

Finally, on September 23, 2020, the prosecutors gave up on the idea of securing a voluntary interview and said they planned to start the formal process of asking the British courts to compel Andrew’s testimony under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between the two countries. There is no indication that interview ever took place.

Allred said the testimony was important for Epstein’s victims.

While Mountbatten-Windsor has said he doesn’t know anything about Epstein’s crimes, the documents released by the Justice Department show that he has at least some understanding of the parties Epstein hosted, and how he used young women to influence his network of wealthy, powerful friends, Allred told the BBC.

“He’s not the one who should decide whether he knows anything that could help in the investigation,” she said. “I am saying it’s not too late, and he does have information that he can share that may help them.”