“Turning the page on a somewhat shameful story”: in York, in the north of England, residents welcome the municipality’s decision to withdraw her last honorary title from Sarah Ferguson, ex-wife of ex-Prince Andrew, because of her links with the American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The measure may be purely symbolic, but it is a new blow for the one the British nickname “Fergie”, who also held the title of Duchess of York until last October.
Retired teacher Helen Gibbons didn’t want to miss the event. When her husband told her about a vote in the city council on Thursday to deprive Sarah Ferguson of this distinction, she canceled the book club meeting she has assiduously hosted since 2012 to attend.
Dressed in a thick sea green sweater, gold glasses on her nose, this 78-year-old woman was among the handful of residents of this city of 200,000 to make the trip to the Guildhall, the imposing Gothic building where the council sits.
The decision to strip Sarah Ferguson, 66, of this distinction entitled “Freedom of the City of York” was adopted unanimously, within minutes.
A relief for Ms Gibbons, who sees this vote as “a good thing”.
“I surprise myself because believe me, I am anything but a Republican,” she assures with her hand on her heart.
American pressure
Fergie received this title in 1987, a year after her marriage to the then Prince Andrew.
The latter was the first to lose this distinction in 2022, due to his links with the American child molester who died in 2019.
Since then, Andrew’s decline has continued to worsen, with revelations about his links with the American child molester.
At the end of October, he lost all his royal titles, including that of Duke of York, leading to the withdrawal of the title of duchess enjoyed by Sarah Ferguson, with whom he still lived until recently, despite their divorce in 1996.
And since February, Andrew has been under judicial investigation, suspected of “failures in the exercise of official duties”, following the publication of new documents linked to the Epstein affair by the US Department of Justice.
Documents which also brought to light the links between Sarah Ferguson and Epstein, to whom she wrote in 2009 that he was “the brother” she had “always dreamed of”.
Faced with the scandal, the ex-duchess remained discreet. His last public appearance dates back to December 2025, during the baptism of his granddaughter Athena.
Although she was not troubled by the justice system, her image took a hit.
Several charities broke with her. In mid-February, her association “Sarah’s Trust”, which supported humanitarian actions for children, announced its closure.
The two daughters she had with Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie, although still princesses, are also threatened with ostracization.
And a US Congressional representative, Suhas Subramanyam, put the pressure back on Sarah Ferguson on Thursday, urging her in a letter to “cooperate” with the parliamentary committee investigating the Epstein affair – recalling the most compromising passages of her emails with Epstein, according to the letter published by the BBC.
“Black anger”
Helen Gibbons understood the extent of the scandal surrounding Fergie thanks to her 17-year-old granddaughter.
“One Saturday afternoon while preparing tea, she flew into a rage when she came across an old cup with the image of Andrew and Sarah,” she says.
“She threw it in the trash!”, she continues. So “I started reading the newspapers…it was quite shocking.”
For a long time, the British seemed to forgive Fergie for her escapades and her setbacks, particularly financial, with many believing that she brought freshness to a rather rigid royal family.
But on York’s picturesque medieval shopping street ‘The Shambles’, the mood now swings between cold anger and indifference.
Robert Pratt, a retired railway worker, confides his wish to “turn the page on a somewhat shameful story”.
At the Eagle and Child, a downtown pub, the conversations revolve more around the war in Iran than Fergie. But, once the subject is raised, tongues loosen.
Pint of beer in hand, Joe Whitehair, 45, unemployed, can’t help but let out a few swear words at the mention of the names Andrew and Sarah.
In front of him, Roger is certain: “we won’t hear from these two again, it’s over”.
