The disgraced ex-Duchess of York — this week stripped of her titles — previously admitted to taking £15,000 off him to help pay off her debts, which she called ‘a giant error of judgment’

Billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein secretly bankrolled scandal-hit Sarah Ferguson for 15 years, he claimed in bombshell emails. The well-connected sex offender complained to pals about her scrounging huge sums of money off him.

The disgraced ex-Duchess of York — this week stripped of her titles — previously admitted to taking £15,000 off him to help pay off her debts, which she called ‘a giant error of judgment’.

But previously unseen emails show Fergie was so desperate to cosy up to him that ‘she was the first to celebrate’ his release from jail ‘with her two daughters in tow’, the Mail on Sunday reports.

Princess Beatrice would have been 20 at the time and Eugenie 19, the same age as many of the hundreds of victims Epstein raped and sexually abused.

The emails reveal Fergie begged to borrow $50,000 to $100,000 to help with ‘small bills’ and even asked to visit Epstein’s private island, joking whether her financial woes made it ‘unavailable to bankrupts?’

They also reveal Epstein paid off debts the duchess owed a former employee, but became angry when she failed to pay him back. And despite publicly disavowing Epstein, Fergie kept up contact and let him help set up a charity for her.

They even show Epstein brazenly gave Fergie ‘talking points’ before she was interviewed by US chat show legend Oprah Winfrey.

In a newspaper interview in March 2011, Fergie issued a ‘heartfelt apology’ for accepting £15,000 from Epstein and called it ‘a giant error of judgment’.

The seemed to anger the financier, who sent an email to French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, complaining: “The duchess that I have financially helped for 15 years said that she wants nothing to do with a paedophile and child sex abuser. It has caused quite a stir.”

Epstein demanded Fergie write him a public letter of apology over the interview and threatened to sue her if she did not. The cache of emails contain various drafts of the letter.

One read: “Dear Jeffrey, I wanted you to know with certainty that many things said in the press about you that were attributed to me were either a totally malicious fabrication or an outrageous exaggeration. There was never a claim of paedophilia… You have been a loyal friend of my family for many years.”

In another email to his British Lawyer Paul Tweed, Epstein wrote: “[Fergie] took apartments in New York. She was the first to celebrate my release with her two daughters in tow. She visited me with [a] policeman sitting at my front desk. She has asked for help with her charities.”

In August, 2011, Epstein wrote to Fergie: ‘When you first got in trouble you said to me, “Jeffrey, I know that as I told everyone, you’re either on the team or off. I knew you were always on my team.” She replied: “That was right. I am on yours and you on mine. With great love and strength.”

Fergie, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, is to be stripped of her Duchess of York title and will go back to being plain Sarah Ferguson after the disgraced royal handed back his titles following pressure from the King.

It comes amid fresh claims about his friendship with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. He is facing a Met Police probe over claims he asked an officer to dig up dirt to smear his teenage sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre.

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By staronline@reachplc.com (Ashley Pemberton)

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