Eugenie Makes Emotional Plea as Mom Fergie Faces Royal Exile For Leaked Epstein Emails: ‘Dangerous’
The numerous scandals in which Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew have been involved, particularly the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, affect not just them but also the British royal family as a whole. However, if there’s anyone they affect more directly, it’s their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Neither of them has ever publicly commented on their parents’ scandals, but how are they dealing with the latest revelations?
Well, Princess Eugenie is simply going on with her life. The youngest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York has launched a new campaign focused on fake fashion and the use of slavery in the bootleg fashion industry. This is a cause that Eugenie has always championed, and one she seems particularly passionate about. She did co-found The Anti-Slavery Collective with her childhood friend Julia de Boinville in 2017.
Related: Here’s what each royal inherited from Queen Elizabeth
The campaign, titled “Hidden Threads: Fake Fashion – A Human Rights Scandal,” aims to shed light on exploitation in international counterfeit fashion supply chains by urging governments to collect and share data on illicit trade and counterfeiting, and to implement labor bans. Princess Eugenie announced the initiative on Instagram.
“Did you know that Fake fashion is a booming industry worth hundreds of billions driving a hidden web of exploitation and harm to people and planet? From forced labour and child exploitation to human trafficking, fake fashion – the kind you can buy online, on the streets, or on holiday – is rife with harm,” the post read.
Eugenie was present at the launch of the project in New York, and said, as reported by The Mirror, “Fake fashion fuels modern slavery, and The Anti-Slavery Collective is determined to confront and challenge it,” adding that, “It’s not always obvious, but the clothes and accessories we buy can come at a hidden cost to people and the planet. There are 28 million people today who are forced to work in dangerous and exploitative industries for little or no pay.”
Princess Eugenie’s new endeavor comes right after The Sun shared details of an email her mother, Sarah Ferguson, sent to Epstein, where she apologized for distancing himself after the convicted sex offender’s release from prison. “You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family,” she wrote, adding that she “was advised in no uncertain terms, to have nothing to do with you and to not speak or email you.”
The email leaks have caused at least seven different charities to remove the Duchess of York as patron or ambassador, according to the BBC. Those charities include Prevent Breast Cancer, the Teenage Cancer Trust, children’s hospice Julia’s House, the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity, and the British Heart Foundation.
Ferguson has not commented directly on the charities’ decision or the email leak. A spokesperson for the Duchess, however, tried to mitigate the damage by explaining to People: “This email was sent in the context of advice the duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats,” they said. Epstein had indeed threatened to sue after the Duchess of York publicly condemned him. But that doesn’t really explain an email referring to him as “my dear, dear friend Jeffrey.”
No, that’s something the Duchess of York will have to carry, and something that, just as with Prince Andrew’s connections to Epstein, will likely be in the conversation for the entire family going forward.
