Sarah Ferguson stripped of Freedom of City of York honour

Sarah Ferguson has been stripped of her Freedom of the City of York honour.

The city’s councillors voted unanimously to remove the honour from the former Duchess of York. She was given it in 1987, following her marriage to the then Duke of York, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Mountbatten Windsor had already been stripped of his honour in 2022.

The City of York council’s Labour leader, Claire Douglas, said, “Honorary Freedom is bestowed only on persons of distinction and those having given eminent services to the City of York. As the people of York would expect, holding this status requires upholding the values and behaviours consistent with such an honour. Those who continued to associate with Epstein after his crimes became widely known fall well short of these expectations.

“City of York councillors considered these issues this evening and agreed that removing the honour from Sarah Ferguson was appropriate. This was the right decision to take to maintain the integrity and standing of this important York honour.”