“Are we now punishing the innocent simply for once being deceived by a criminal?“
Don’t get me wrong, I am the first to condemn, without hesitation, those proven guilty of crimes. Justice is justice, victims deserve protection, and predators deserve punishment.
But tell me this: have these charities abandoned all sense of proportion by casting aside the Duchess of York? Are we now in the business of punishing the innocent simply for once being deceived, unknowingly, by a criminal?
Seven charities… seven!… have cut ties with Sarah Ferguson. Overnight, decades of tireless work and millions raised evaporated. Teenage Cancer Trust, where she stood faithfully for 35 years, where she took her daughters to mark their 18th birthdays… gone. Julia’s House, Prevent Breast Cancer, the British Heart Foundation… gone. All because of an email.
Yes, an email.
The Duchess’s note to Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 was sent on legal advice, a defensive attempt to placate him and fend off threats of litigation. It was written after his conviction, yes, but long before the true scale of his monstrosity was revealed. She, like so many before and after, was deceived. People are not clairvoyant. Otherwise, no intelligent woman would ever marry a narcissist, no community would ever fall for a fraudster, no businessman would ever shake the hand of a crook. Humans are fallible. Trust, once weaponised, becomes a devastating tool.
But here’s the point: is the Duchess of York guilty of his crimes? No. Is she guilty of shielding him? No. She cut him off. She condemned him, publicly. She admitted her error of judgement. She was even threatened for daring to denounce him. And yet she is now punished, not for actions, but for words written under duress. Ask yourself, would you, under legal pressure, have acted differently?
Charities are supposed to embody kindness, loyalty, perspective. They are supposed to lift people up, not cast them aside like yesterday’s news. If a children’s hospice or a cancer trust cannot distinguish between a criminal and someone duped by a criminal, then who can?
It’s hypocrisy, plain and simple. These same charities basked in the glow of her royal patronage for years. They accepted her time, her energy, her advocacy, her fundraising, her tears, her humanity. And at the first whiff of scandal, they cut her down like a tree in a storm. No conversation, no balance, no nuance. Just panic.
So let them answer: what crime has the Duchess committed? What moral trespass warrants this wholesale excommunication? She is not Epstein. She is not a criminal. She is a woman who worked hard for causes bigger than herself, who has lived her life in the goldfish bowl of public scrutiny, and who, yes, once had the misfortune of knowing a man later unmasked as a monster.
For 35 years, she stood by these charities. When it mattered most, they abandoned her.
Charities should be the soul of compassion. Instead, they have revealed themselves to be brittle, shallow, and performative. In rushing to disown her, they have not protected their causes. They have weakened them.
And in all this noise, one thing is forgotten: the Duchess of York remains what she always has been. Kind. Considerate. Human.
And charities, of all institutions, should know better than to punish humanity.
Please let me know what you think? Am I wrong? Have I missed something? I would be grateful to know what our readers think. Editor@ConservativePost.co.uk
A spokesman for the Duchess issued the following statement:
“The Duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been, her first thoughts are with his victims. Like many people, she was taken in by his lies.
“As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with paedophilia.
“She does not resile from anything she said then. This email was sent in the context of advice the Duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.”
Main Image: Sarah Ferguson, SAM Billings and Michael Vaughan in Rwanda during the launch of Gahanga Cricket Stadium. 28 October 2017. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mugishadondedieu/38043654686/sizes/l Author: Mugisha Don de Dieu. Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
