Sarah Ferguson accused of sharing goddaughter's details with Epstein - The Times

Sarah Ferguson introduced her 22-year-old goddaughter to Jeffrey Epstein a year after his release from prison for child sex crimes, emails appear to show.

The former duchess provided the contact details for Poppy Cotterell, the daughter of her former lady-in-waiting, to the convicted paedophile financier, writing: “Over to you!”

Emails released in the Epstein files appear to show that she helped Epstein to arrange a meeting with her goddaughter. He appeared to consider employing her and making a $100,000 donation in her name to a health charity.

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Ferguson has not been seen since Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday. She is said to have been living abroad since moving out of Royal Lodge in Windsor, where she lived with her former husband.

The latest tranche of files made public by the United States Department of Justice show that Ferguson took her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie to meet Epstein five days after he was released from prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor. The introduction of her goddaughter to Epstein came 16 months later.

Cotterell’s mother Carolyn, who died in 1999, was a childhood friend and former flatmate of Ferguson and godmother to her eldest daughter, Beatrice.

An email address called “Sarah” wrote to Epstein on November 12, 2010, with the subject line “Poppy Cotterell’s contact info”.

The short note read: “Over to you! … Lots of love.”

Epstein emailed his assistant instructing them to set up a meeting. The next Monday she replied: “Poppy Cotterell will come see you on Wed at 2:00 at the house.” An email that Wednesday said: “Poppy Cotterell is here.”

Later email exchanges described Cotterell as interested in an introduction to Dr Woodson Merrell, a specialist in integrative medicine, in which some complementary therapies are used alongside conventional medicine.

On November 22, Epstein received an email that said: “I have put Poppy and Carinda at Dr Merrell’s office in touch with each other. Poppy is thrilled. I will follow up to see when the tour will take place … also let Dr Merrell’s office know you would like to donate $100,000 in Poppy Cotterell’s name.”

A few days later, Mark Lloyd, a friend of Epstein’s, emailed: “Hi Jeffrey, I gather you might be employing Poppy Cotterell. Mark.”

He replied: “What do you know aboutPoppy.. goodchoicc.? not good? [sic]”

Lloyd said: “From what I hear she is both extremely bright and very pretty. I knew her late mother, but do not know her at all.”

Cotterell, 38, works as a private psychotherapist and yoga teacher in London. She has been engaged to the businessman Samuel Swire since 2023. She follows Sarah Ferguson on Instagram, although her account is private.

In a statement to The Sun, she said: “In 2010 at the age of 22, I was working in New York as an intern at an art gallery when I was introduced to Mr Epstein about a possible job looking after his art collection.

“After meeting Mr Epstein he offered me a role, which I declined. I never met him again.

“I was not aware of Dr Woodson Merrell’s charity before I met Mr Epstein, did not request a donation to be made to it and do not know if a donation was ever made.”

The Times has approached her for comment.

There have been questions over Ferguson’s whereabouts since Andrew was evicted from Royal Lodge.

She was last seen there in September, and then at her granddaughter Athena’s christening at St James’s Palace at the start of December.

Ferguson has kept moving, according to reports, including travelling to see her daughters, and is believed now to be in the UAE.

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The Mail on Sunday said that she had spent time in January at the Paracelsus Recovery Clinic in Zurich, Switzerland, where a week’s stay costs 95,000 Swiss Franc (£91,000).

The mental health and addiction clinic has been used by celebrities, oligarchs and royalty, who stay in a lake-view penthouse and have access to concierge and limousine services, a personal chef, butler and an onsite therapist.

Jan Gerber, the founder and chief executive of Paracelsus, coined the term “succession syndrome” for the mental health and addiction issues in wealthy families.

On his website, he wrote: “In many ultra-wealthy families, the home operates more like a business than a place of connection. There’s often a strong focus on performance, success and legacy, but very little room for vulnerability.”

Last year, Ferguson wrote about her previous visit to Paracelsus where she alleged she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

She has appeared in videos on the clinic’s YouTube channel. In one, she thanked Gerber for providing her “safe harbour in the storms of life”. Questions have been raised about how she would be able to pay for a visit.

The clinic was unable to confirm or deny whether she had visited in January. It also declined to comment on the allegation that Ferguson may have stayed at the clinic without charge. The Times understands she holds no formal role to promote it.

There have been reports that she has been relying on her daughters after she was removed from charitable roles and six companies connected to her were wound down.

A source told The Mail on Sunday: “Sarah is sofa-surfing on a global scale by moving around every few days and deliberately not telling people where she has been staying until she’s left the location. She is paranoid her location will be discovered so is moving frequently.”

A spokesman for Ferguson declined to comment.