Transcription
The latest batch of Epstein files are piling more pressure on former royal Sarah Ferguson and her closeness to the convicted sex offender. They've also seen the former British ambassador to Washington, Lord Mandlesson, now facing a possible police inquiry over his links to Epstein during his time as a government minister. Joining us to unpack this unholy mess is Daily Mirror Royal editor Russell Meers. Russell, let's start with Sarah Ferguson and some astonishing claims over comments. It's suggested she made to Epstein about her own daughter using very crude language. What's that all about?
>> Well, indeed, James, I mean, over the last few days, we've been going through these this tranch of emails and documents, over 3 million of them released by the US Department of Justice. And it goes from bad to worse for Sarah Ferguson because I don't think until now we really understood the sort of depth of her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. But of course that she did have a relationship. It's something that she had admitted in the past. But these emails between Sarah Ferguson and Epstein tell you a lot about how much contact there actually was. She was referring to her daughter's sex life. In one uh email to Epstein, she also mentions uh several business propositions. She also talks about her love for him saying, "I'm at your service. Please marry me." But it gets even stranger where she refers to Epstein having a baby boy, congratulating him. And this is a couple of years after he had been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor. In 2011, she had sent him emails congratulating him on the birth of a baby boy, which is incredible really because no there's no such proof that Epstein had ever fathered a child, although there are new allegations from another victim this week that she had a baby taken off of her uh just 10 hours after the birth. So, I think there's an awful lot to unpick in this latest uh raft of emails.
>> Yeah, that that's an understatement for sure. Sarah Ferguson has previously said her relationship with Epstein was, and I'm quoting, a gigantic error of judgment. It's another understatement. Can she ever recover from this?
>> Well, she may have said that at the time, but she obviously went back on her word, and I think we've it's been proved in abundance now how Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatton Windsor have lied at every juncture because she was certainly in contact with him afterwards. Epstein, we understand, was furious about that statement that she'd given. he'd appealed to her and her team to retract the the statement that she made and she was still emailing him sort of sending begging letters about business ventures and what have you. But you Sarah Ferguson has always been a great survivor. She's been uh been in trouble before. She's been nearly bankrupt. She's had you huge money worries and certainly the public have always taken to her. But I think that this is a far too a step far too far because she will not recover from this. I think the level of revulsion over her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is only coming to the four now. And certainly we thought that it was just Andrew Mbat and Windsor who had his tentacles into the murky depths of Epstein world, but certainly Sarah was just as bad in in that sense.
>> Just very quickly, the claims that Epstein fathered a child to a teenager and then had the child taken away at birth, is there any way that can be verified? It's a shocking claim, but how seriously should we take it?
>> Well, I think we've got to take on face value at the moment because there is lawyers representing the woman. There's certainly the the FBI will want to look into further claims of any victims that want to come forward. And if this young woman does want to come forward, then the US authorities will want to speak to her. So, it's certainly not the end of it.
>> Okay. Very quickly, uh before we go, I have to talk about your news. You've got a new biography coming out, William and Katherine, the intimate inside story, tracking their relationship uh right through flashoints, media storms, the Sussex fallout, uh the cancer diagnosis. What's the biggest new detail in uh your book about William and Katherine?
>> Well, it's it's packed with stories. It's been a you know, a great experience writing I think we get a real new sense of William and Katherine, who they are as people and certainly as you mentioned the stories that followed them over the last few years talking about the Caribbean tour, William's relationship with the late Queen, you know, potential uh flash points with Harry and Megan and his uncle Andrew. It's all there and looking forward to sharing it with you all. I am sure there will be a lot of interest in your book, Russell. And give me again the title is called
>> William and Katherine, the intimate inside story. So available to pre-order now. Thanks, James.
>> Fantastic. Hey, thanks for joining me. Great to chat with you.