Princess Eugenie addressed her followers on Instagram this Friday, marking her first public response following the release of a controversial email involving her mother, Sarah Ferguson, and Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duchess of York found herself in the spotlight when it surfaced that in 2011 she had written an email to the now-deceased financier, known for his child sexual abuse crimes, seeking forgiveness for publicly distancing herself from him after his conviction.

Following the publication of the email, in which she described him as a ‘supreme’ friend, Sarah has been dropped by seven charities. 

With increasing public scrutiny, the duchess explained that she felt coerced into writing the email due to threats, fearing potential repercussions for her family.

Amidst the ongoing media coverage of the uproar, Eugenie, aged 35, posted on social media highlighting a significant event she organized in New York. The event was in partnership with the Anti Slavery Collective, a charitable organization she helped establish.

Eugenie included various photos from the event, explaining in the caption: ‘The Anti-Slavery Collective has been developing a project that links counterfeit fashion to forced labor.

‘I was thrilled to host an event aligning with the UN General Assembly and NYC Climate Week to unveil this thrilling initiative and bring attention to this often-ignored human rights issue.’

‘The Anti-Slavery Collective launched a new short film and hosted a roundtable for fashion insiders, re-seller platforms, designers, brands, behavioural scientists, fashion press, and illicit trade experts.

‘This is only the beginning and I can’t wait to see this project unfold!’

Her statement came days after the Duchess of York’s spokesman said that Epstein had threatened to destroy the York’s family in a ‘chilling’ phone call after she gave an interview publicly disowning him.

Speaking on Tuesday, James Henderson, claimed that Sarah’s fawning email came after a ‘chilling call’ in which a ‘menacing and nasty’ Epstein threatened to ‘destroy the York family’ in ‘a Hannibal Lecter-type voice’.

‘The pressure she was put under to protect her family must have been huge,’ he said.

‘And this was long before the Duke’s life had been ruined by his association with Epstein. Her family and her children will always come first.’ 

Epstein was apparently raging when she called him a paedophile in public and cited accepting £15,000 from him to settle her debts as a ‘terrible, terrible error of judgment’.

In the emails, the duchess ‘humbly apologised’ and told the sex trafficker she was aware that he would ‘feel hellaciously let down by me’.

Prince Andrew has already been forced to relinquish all his public duties and offices as a result of his association with Epstein and is barred from attending official royal events. 

Now a royal expert has claimed that as a result of the scandal, a question mark hangs over the future of the public lives of Eugenie and her sister Beatrice, 37.  

The sisters, despite not being working royals, have HRH titles and are ninth and 12th in line to the throne respectively. 

They have public patronages and projects they are passionate about: for Beatrice, this includes dyslexia, while Eugenie is committed to ending modern slavery. 

Speaking to the Daily Mail, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams affirmed that while their ‘current projects’ are unlikely to be affected by their parents’ now ‘toxic’ brand, the princesses’ public future is much more unclear. 

Richard explained that Beatrice and Eugenie’s personal ‘closeness’ to their parents may mean they are not involved ‘at least for a period, probably a considerable period, in new charitable projects’. 

He said: ‘When a brand becomes toxic, its effect obviously spreads to public figures who are attached to it.

‘They are well established as a duo with constructive reach and for this reason I doubt that any of their current projects will be affected by the toxicity which has affected the York brand. I am, of course, assuming that no embarrassing information comes to light which involves them personally.

‘The Duchess of York’s disgrace is huge news, however, and likely to cause them both enormous personal hurt. 

‘The Yorks have always been a close-knit family. However, their closeness to their parents is likely to mean that they are not involved, at least for a period, probably a considerable period, in new charitable projects.

‘This will be a deeply painful period for the sisters as their parents are both likely to languish in public disgrace and foreseeably so.’  

Meanwhile, royal author Phil Dampier suggested that any hope of the princesses one day playing a greater role in King Charles’s slimmed-down monarchy could now be called into question. 

He said: ‘I […] believe they would do more for the royal family if the King asked them, but that is probably a non-starter now that both the Duke and Duchess of York are in the doghouse.’

However, he said that the sisters’ good reputation – with their own careers and families – will stand them in good stead to avoid the consequences of their parents’ actions. 

‘Bea and Eugenie will obviously be devastated by what has happened to their parents but they are old enough and now wise enough to know the truth,’ Phil told the Daily Mail. 

‘The late Queen always said that whatever her faults, Sarah Ferguson was a “good mother” and her daughters are a testament to that. 

‘They are both now happily married mothers and they do good work for their own charities. 

‘Bea and Eugenie have carved out their own careers and come across as popular and well-balanced individuals.’