Councillors in York have unanimously agreed to strip Sarah Ferguson of her Freedom of the City of York due to her association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. City of York Council stripped her of the title during a meeting at the Guildhall in York on Thursday evening. The vote comes after proposals to strip 66-year-old Ms Ferguson of the honorary status were first mooted in October. This came following an email between her and the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein came to the surface.
The email from 2011 described him as a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to her and her family. It was sent after the disgraced financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008 and after Ms Ferguson said her involvement with him was an error of judgement.
Sarah and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were given the honour as a wedding present from York in 1987 during a visit to the city. In 2022, councillors removed Andrew's Freedom of the City of York and was the first person ever to have it taken away at the time.
Speaking during the debate, Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley said: "We now know, following the release of thousands of documents, that Sarah Ferguson too had a close friendship with Epstein, which continued well beyond his conviction.
"We don't expect recipients of York's highest honour to be saints. We simply do not want them to be best friends of convicted paedophiles.
"We stand with victims. We stand for the rule of the rule of law. We stand for decency."
Gwen Swinburn, a member of the public, addressed councillors during the debate.
She said: "The decision before you tonight is whether to remove the freedom of the city from Ms Ferguson.
"It should not be a difficult one. It is the absolute minimum you should be doing."
Councillor Claire Douglas, leader of the Labour group on the local authority, added: "As the people of York would expect, holding this status requires upholding the values and behaviours consistent with such an honour.
"Those who continued to associate with Jeffrey Epstein after his crimes became widely known fall well short of these expectations.
"Sarah Ferguson falls into this category as the Epstein files have shown. I therefore call on council to support the motion as presented."
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