Politicians in the city voted unanimously to back the move, four years after taking a similar step against her ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Thursday 26 March 2026 19:03, UK
Sarah Ferguson has been stripped of the freedom of the city of York by councillors.
The former Duchess of York, and ex-wife ofAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor, had the honour removed following a unanimous council vote on Thursday evening.
City of York Council members passed the motion during a meeting at the Guildhall, following fresh revelations about her connections to convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019.
Ms Ferguson is mentioned several times among the millions of documents released by the US Department of Justice as part of theEpstein files. Being named in the files is not evidence of 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 wasstripped of the same honourin 2022. The couple were jointly awarded the status in 1987 following their wedding.
In October, Fergusonlost her Duchess of York titlewhen 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.
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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."
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