The shocking moment Sarah Ferguson stormed out of a TV interview has been shared online after several charities dropped her following revelations over an email toJeffrey Epsteincalling him a ‘supreme friend’.
Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, the Duchess of York, 65, sat down for atrainwreck questioning with60 Minutes Australia host Michael Usher in 2011.
During the car-crash interview, Sarah, mother to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, walked off mid-discussion because she didn’t like the line of questioning before finally returning to speak to the presenter.
The chat started to go south when the Duchess was forced to watch recorded footage of her offering ‘cash-for-access’ services to her former husband, the Duke of York.
In May 2010, Sarah was filmed by the now-closed News of the World newspaper offering access to Prince Andrew for £500,000 to an undercover reporter posing as an Indian businessman.
But it appeared the mother-of-two couldn’t handle being quizzed about the scandal, walking out of the interview shortly after Mr Usher started that line of questioning – before later returning to finish the chat.
The footage was shared by 60 Minutes Australia on its Instagram page on Tuesday following several charities severing ties with Sarah on Monday after it emerged she apologised to paedophile financier Epstein in April 2011 after publicly disowning him in the media.
Among the organisations to end their relationship with the Duchess after the email came to light was the Teenage Cancer Trust, which dropped her as patron after 35 years.
The Duchess of York sat down for a trainwreck interview with 60 Minutes Australia host Michael Usher in 2011
Sarah sent the apology email to Epstein, in which she described him as a ‘supreme friend’, after he threatened to ‘destroy’ her family in a ‘chilling call’, it was claimed.
James Henderson, the Duchess’s spokesperson at the time, said the email was sent after a ‘really menacing and nasty’ phone call from the sex offender who had a ‘Hannibal Lecter-type voice’, the Telegraph reported.
Almost a year before her email toEpstein, Sarah was captured on camera in May 2010, offering to take cash in exchange for access to her ex-husband. She is clearly heard on the footage saying: ‘£500,000 when you can, to me, open doors.’
In her interview with MrUsher, she was asked by thejournalist:’Did you take the money? At one point you had $4,000 cash sitting in front of you, did you take that.’
Sarah replied: ‘Absolutely yes, it was given to me and I got it in the car and then returned it straight away.’
Michael added: ‘Once the scandal broke?’ Looking frustrated, Sarah added: ‘As soon as I knew it was a scandal not once it broke Michael. Don’t try and trick me now because I am not going to play this game. Delete that bit. I don’t to go down this route.’
The Duchess then turned around to her Australian agent John, who was off screen, and expressed that she didn’t want to continue with that line of questioning.
After being pressed by the presenter to continue the interview, Sarah said ‘OK, thanks moving onto the next question.’
Sarah Ferguson stormed out of a 60 Minutes Australia TV interview after being quizzed about her ‘cash-for-access’ scandal in resurfaced footage
When asked if the scandal helped her ‘review her life’, Sarah said: ‘I was very grateful for being in that position in a way, because when I hit rock bottom it woke me up.’
Sarah then looked off camera again at her agent and said ‘remember, remember, Cindy, yeah.. I am going to take five minutes.’
In a dramatic turn of events, the Duchess then stood up and walked out of the interview. She returned later but still appeared frosty with the host.
During a radio interview in December 2024, Mr Usher opened up about his awkward interaction with Sarah.
He revealed on Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie:’I had to call her Duchess. She wouldn’t let me call her Sarah, lots and lots of airs and graces.’
‘But she was fine, and she was relatively sweet. But then there was just this moment… she turned and getting her back into the chair, was crazy.
‘She came back and she continued the interview, and then it was like a different personality again,’ he added.
The reporter then claimed that after the awkward interview,him and his crew were walking outside when Sarah came running after them.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York alongside other Royal Family members at the funeral for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral on September 16
‘We walked outside, and the Duchess came running up behind me. She chucked her heels off and she’s in her stockings on the lawn. Going “Michael, how was that?”‘ he recalled.
‘By that stage, I just said, “Sarah, if I were you, I’d be asking to go back into the room and do that interview all over again, because I don’t know what happened.”
‘Then she goes, “Oh, well, anyway, who wants to sign some books? I’ll sign your book for you. And now, what are your kids names?” And off she went from there.’
The Duchess’s representation in Australia, John Scott, claimed at the time that the footage was cynically taken out of context and demanded that the network withdraw its advertising of the programme and delete scenes from the interview.
He told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper: ‘We had gone through all the questions and subject matter beforehand and filmed all the walking in the park footage before we sat down.
‘She did walk out when she was ambushed – no, it was entrapment – but after cooling down she said to me, “F*** them, let’s do this”, and she did, but it was a banal interview and her demeanour reflected that.’
John said Sarah was shocked when asked to watch the News of the World footage again during the 60 Minutes interview and claimed it was ‘unnecessary’,because she had obviously already seen it and had agreed to answer questions about it.
But 60 Minutes producer Mr Thomson said: ‘She agreed to talk about the issue, as she has already extensively done, so it certainly wasn’t entrapment.’
The shocking interview has been shared online this week afterseveral charities severed ties with her on Monday once it had emerged she apologised to paedophile financier Epstein in April 2011 after publicly disowning him in the media.
Among the organisations to end their relationship with the Duchess after the email came to light wasWiltshire and Dorset-based children’s hospice Julia’s House, Prevent Breast Cancer, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation and the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals.
The British Heart Foundation also said Sarah was no longer a serving ambassador for the charity. Julia’s House said it would be ‘inappropriate for her to continue as a patron of the charity’ – citing her correspondence with Epstein as a deciding factor.
Meanwhile founders of food allergy charity The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation said they were ‘disturbed’ to read her correspondence with him. Sarah alsoresigned from the Youth Impact Council, a US-based charity that helps young people.
James Henderson, the Duchess’s spokesperson at the time, told The Telegraph:’People don’t understand how terrible Epstein was. I can remember everything about that call.
‘It was a chilling call and I’m surprised anybody was ever friends with him given the way he talked to me.
‘He said he would destroy the York family and he was quite clear on that. He said he would destroy me. He wasn’t shouting.
‘He had a Hannibal Lecter-type voice. It was very cold and calm and really menacing and nasty.’
He continued: ‘The pressure she was put under to protect her family must have been huge. I am sure there were legal actions.
‘And this was long before the Duke’s life had been ruined by his association with Epstein. It was 14 years ago and everyone will do what they have to do to protect their family. Her family and children will always come first for her.’
The phone call reportedly took place in the wake of the duchess’s interview with the Evening Standard on March 7 2011, in which she apologised for accepting £15,000 from Epstein.
During the interview, Sarah told the newspaper: ‘I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say.
‘Whenever I can, I will repay the money and have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.’
A little over a month later, the Duchess sent a message to Epstein, reported by The Mail on Sunday, in which she said: ‘I know you feel hellaciously let down by me.
‘And I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that. You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.’
It continued: ‘I was advised in no uncertain terms, to have nothing to do with you and to not speak or email you. And if I did – I would cause more problems to you, the duke and myself. I was broken and lost.
‘So please understand. I didn’t want to hurt Andrew one more time. I was in over-riding fear. I am sorry.’
Following the announcements by the charities on Monday, family members of Virginia Giuffre praised their ‘decisive action’ by cutting ties with Sarah.
Ms Giuffre, who died in Western Australia in April aged 41, was one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offenders Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
In 2022, she settled a lawsuit against Andrew for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein. He denied the claim and ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
American-born Ms Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, and her sister-in-law Amanda Roberts, said in a statement: ‘It is commendable that these seven charities have cut ties with Sarah Ferguson in light of her connections to Epstein.
‘This decisive action sends a strong message about accountability and the need to confront those who support the horrific child trafficking network established by Epstein and Maxwell.’
They added: ‘It raises important questions about our own efforts in America. Are we doing enough to condemn those complicit in these crimes?
‘We should follow the example set by these organisations and take meaningful steps to protect the vulnerable and uphold justice.’
Ms Giuffre was ‘systematically failed by nearly every powerful institution that was meant to protect her’, they said, before commending the ‘forceful response’ from the charities.
They added: ‘In absence of governmental accountability, we urgently need stronger public condemnation of the men and women involved in propping up Epstein’s horrific child sex trafficking network here in America to begin pursuing real justice.’
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.
