Sarah Ferguson has been stripped of the freedom of the city of York by councillors.The former Duchess of York, and ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, had the honour removed following a unanimous council vote on Thursday evening.
She has faced mounting scrutiny and criticism over her friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019.Ms Ferguson is mentioned several times in the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice. Being named in the files does not suggest wrongdoing.The “freedom of the city” honour is a ceremonial role, awarded to notable figures. It does not grant any “privileges” in the city, according to York council’s website.
Andrew was stripped of the same honour in 2022. The couple were jointly awarded the status in 1987 following their wedding.In October, Ferguson lost her Duchess of York title when her ex-husband also had his royal title removed, although at the time she had only been using her first and last name in a professional capacity.
Liberal Democrat Darryl Smalley, who proposed the motion to strip Andrew of the honour in 2022, told Thursday’s meeting that previously he had not wanted to do the same to Ms Ferguson.He said: “At the time, it felt wrong to judge someone by the actions of their ex-husband.
“[But] 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 the recipients of York’s highest honour to be saints. We simply do not want them to be best friends of convicted paedophiles.”Read more from JattvibeUK facing biggest economic hit from Iran warTransgender women banned from OlympicsGang-rape victim, 25, to be euthanisedThe council’s Labour leader Claire Douglas added: “Honorary freedom is bestowed only on persons of distinction and those having given eminent services to the city of York.”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 Epstein after his crimes became widely known fall well short of these expectations.”Jattvibe has approached Ms Ferguson for comment.
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