Sir Richard Branson has denied reports that Sarah Ferguson is in hiding on his Caribbean island after she fled Royal Lodge.
Ms Ferguson, 66, was reported over the weekend to have fled the UK – days before Prince Andrew finally left the Windsor Great Park home under the cover of darkness this week.
Suggestions had been made that she was overseas – or had sought refuge on Necker Island, Branson’s 74-acre private escape in the British Virgin Islands.
But those rumours have been unceremoniously denied by the Virgin juggernaut’s spokesperson today.
They told the Daily Mail: ‘Sir Richard has had no contact with Sarah Ferguson following the release of the Epstein files and, contrary to some media reports, can confirm she is not on Necker Island either.’
Both Sir Richard and Ms Ferguson have been plunged into fresh scandal with the release of the latest tranche of the Epstein files. Appearing in the files does not indicate guilt or wrongdoing.
Among the three million files released by the US Department of Justice on Friday are emails in which the Virgin founder appeared to joke about Epstein’s ‘harem’.
This comes as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was dramatically ordered out of his Royal Lodge home after King Charles got sick of seeing photos of him horse riding around Windsor while the Epstein crisis exploded.
The King’s younger brother had been due to move to temporary accommodation on the Sandringham estate on Tuesday next week – but the plan was rushed forward after extraordinary new revelations emerged about the former Prince.
Mr Branson, who has a net worth of around £2billion, also appeared to give Epstein some advice on rehabilitating his public image some five years after he pleaded guilty to procuring a child for prostitution.
Epstein had sent an email on September 11 2013 thanking Sir Richard for his ‘hospitality’ after visiting Necker Island, asking: ‘I appreciate your public relations thoughts.’
In response, Sir Richard wrote: ‘It was really nice seeing you yesterday. The boys in Watersports can’t stop speaking about it! Any time you’re in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!’
Earlier emails from Epstein’s office setting up the visit revealed that Epstein would be visiting with three male business associates and ‘two Russian girls’.
Sir Richard then suggested that Bill Gates – who has also appeared in the latest dump of files – were willing to give him public backing, his public image could be improved.
‘I think if Bill Gates was willing to say that you’ve been a brilliant advisor to him, that you slipped up many years ago by sleeping with a 17-year-old woman and were punished for it, that you’ve more than learnt your lesson and have done nothing that’s against the law since and, yes, as a single man you seem to have a penchant for women. But there’s nothing wrong with that,’ Sir Richard said.
The billionaire has vehemently denied wrongdoing and released a statement last night saying he and his late wife Joan cut off all contact with Epstein after learning of his ‘abhorrent’ crimes.
A spokesperson for Sir Richard previously said: ‘Any contact Richard and Joan Branson had with Epstein took place on only a few occasions more than 12 years ago and was limited to group or business settings, such as a charity tennis event.
‘When Epstein offered a charity donation, the Bransons asked their team to carry out due diligence before accepting the donation which uncovered serious allegations.
‘As a result, Virgin Unite did not take the donation and Richard and Joan decided not to meet or speak with Epstein again.
‘Had they had the full picture and information there would have been no contact whatsoever. Richard believes that Epstein’s actions were abhorrent and supports the right to justice for his many victims.’
The spokesman added that using the word ‘harem’ to describe three women travelling with Epstein was a term Branson ‘regrettably repeated’ from the billionaire financier without knowing the ‘full facts’ of Epstein’s crimes.
New files also show that Ms Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, sent flirtatious emails to Epstein, appearing to suggest that he marry her while discussing someone ‘single’ with ‘a great body’ that the financier could employ.
Fergie told the sex offender he should marry her on a number of occasions in the months after he left jail following a 13-month sentence for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.
In one email from September 17, 2009, she wrote about one woman: ‘You can marry her too. She is single and [sic] a great body’. She added: ‘Ok well marry me and then we will employ her’.
The Mail revealed this week that Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are ‘aghast’ at their mother’s embarrassing tranche of emails to Jeffrey Epstein.
Sources close to the sisters say they are also ‘appalled’ and ’embarrassed’ about the new photos of their father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching over a mystery woman lying on the floor.
Sarah’s Trust, a charity of the Duchess’, said this week it will close down after ‘some months’ of discussion; Fergie’s links to Epstein have also led to several other charities dropping her as a patron.
Her most recent children’s book was also axed by publisher New Frontier after she had called Epstein a ‘supreme friend’ in a private email some weeks after she had publicly disavowed him.
The latest Epstein files have already led to the downfall of Peter Mandelson, who is stepping down from the House of Lords amid allegations he had passed market-sensitive information to Epstein while a serving Cabinet minister under Gordon Brown.
Lord Mandelson, who also appeared to be pictured in Epstein’s flat in his underpants in a new image, has denied the huge tranche of evidence released by the US government on Friday shows he broke the law.
The Metropolitan Police has launched a criminal investigation into the claims.
At Prime Minister’s Questions today, Sir Keir Starmer said Lord Mandelson – nicknamed the ‘Prince of Darkness’ – had ‘betrayed’ his country and would be stripped of his honorific title.
Sir Keir has pledged to publish the details of how Mandelson was vetted ahead of his appointment as US ambassador – but has said that some information will be withheld for national security reasons, or to avoid compromising the Met’s investigation.
