Could Fergie's royal reinvention be over? 'The Duchess of York has survived scandal before, but this time she faces her biggest test'

ANALYSIS – – Some would say the Duchess of York is the royal with nine lives.

In the decades since divorcing Prince Andrew, the now-65-year-old has mastered the art of reinventing herself after facing nearly more scandals than her embattled ex-husband.

But a newly-unearthed email to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, in which the duchess called the late convicted sex offender a "supreme friend" may have finally put an end to her hard-fought royal rehabilitation.

At least seven charities and organisations have now cut ties with the duchess, including the Teenage Cancer Trust that she had been patron of for 35 years.

Julia's House, a children's hospice, was the first to remove the duchess, saying it was "inappropriate" for her to continue in the role.

Others who followed include Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, Children's Literacy Charity, National Foundation for Retired Service Animals, Prevent Breast Cancer and the British Heart Foundation.

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After years of being a pariah amongst the royal family, before being let back in, the time could finally be up for the Duchess of York when it comes to being seen with the royals at public-facing family events.

Until now the duchess, who is widely known as Fergie, had been enjoying a comeback of sorts under the reign of King Charles III.

Post-divorce in 1996, she was famously left out of family events due to claims of Prince Philip's well-known dislike of her.

But that started to change in the Duke of Edinburgh's final years and in 2018 the Duchess of York was invited to Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding.

When King Charles ascended the throne in 2022, the duchess joined the royal family in mourning Queen Elizabeth II at her state funeral and committal service at Windsor Castle.

She was seated prominently at the King's coronation concert at Windsor Castle in May, 2023, and months later, the duchess was invited to spend Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham. Fergie was among the royals seen walking to church in the morning, just steps behind the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children.

It was the first time the duchess had been included in that family event in nearly 30 years and was seen as a major turning point in the King's feelings towards her.

A month later, the duchess walked side-by-side Prince Andrew when he led the group of royals to St George's Chapel, Windsor, for the memorial for King Constantine II of Greece.

And in March, the duchess was again at another royal family event: Easter Sunday mass at Windsor.

A few months after that, she was at Royal Ascot with daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, on the same day as Prince William, Zara and Mike Tindall and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

This year, Fergie was again included at the royal family's Easter celebrations and at Royal Ascot alongside the King and Queen Camilla.

The duchess was also given a seat inside the prestigious Royal Box at Wimbledon. The last time the Duchess of York was seen in the exclusive enclosure was in 1988 when she attended Wimbledon with her then-sister-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales.

Her most recent outing in the public was on Tuesday last week at the funeral of the Duchess of Kent. While it was a private event, she and Prince Andrew arrived through the front doors of Westminster Cathedral and after the service, they mingled on the steps outside with the King and Prince William and Catherine.

Prince William did his best to ignore his uncle by staring straight ahead despite Prince Andrew's repeated attempts to engage him in conversation, making for a very uncomfortable encounter.

The duchess was seen smiling and chatting to the senior royals present.

The funeral was a private family occasion, which is why the Yorks were there.

But could it be the last time both the Duke of York, and now the duchess, are seen with the King and his relatives?

Fergie's re-entry into royal life was made possible by King Charles, who has always felt affection for his former sister-in-law.

In May, the duchess was personally invited by the King to attend a reception inside Buckingham Palace. It was an opportunity for the monarch to celebrate the work of various cancer charities and during the event, he spoke about his own diagnosis.

In highly personal comments, the King described his journey as being a "daunting and at times frightening experience" and that his experience of living with cancer had shown that "the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion".

The Duchess of York was there due to her own experience with cancer. Last year Fergie was diagnosed with both breast cancer and melanoma and used her public platform to urge people not to delay their own health checks.

Fergie's invitation to the palace event was also seen by some observers as a thank you from the King for her role in playing peacemaker during a dispute between Prince Andrew and his older brother months before.

The duchess had helped to persuade Prince Andrew to stay away from the royal family's Christmas celebrations in Sandringham after his business dealings with an alleged Chinese spy came to light.

By doing so, the King had avoided further embarrassment by being seen with Prince Andrew, protecting the royal family from negative headlines.

In an interview with The Times, soon before Andrew's links to an alleged Chinese spy were made public, she said of the King "I absolutely adore him".

"He's kind and makes me laugh, and I love that he still calls me Fergie," the duchess said. She said she and Queen Camilla were "so close now".

"I want to do as much for the Queen as possible. I wish they'd ask me to do more."

The Duchess of York has also been doing her best to honour the memory of the late Queen Elizabeth II by repeatedly speaking of her affection for the monarch in interviews.

"We must speak her name... to keep her grace and example alive," the duchess said in May at an event in London.

Fergie had a close relationship with her mother-in-law and the duchess frequently visited the late Queen at Windsor Castle and at Balmoral Castle, where they would go for walks together.

The Duke and Duchess of York were entrusted with Elizabeth II's two corgis following her death. Sandy and Muick were the monarch's last remaining dogs and now live at the Royal Lodge.

For all of Fergie's praise for the royal family's key players, she may find her time amongst them is now at an end.

The beginning of what could be the end started in late July when Andrew Lownie published his book, Entitled, which was a joint biography of the former couple.

The book delved into allegations of Andrew's various murky financial deals over the years, his "unbelievably cruel" treatment of household staff, his dealings with Epstein and his fall from grace in the eyes of the British public.

It also chartered Fergie's many ups and downs, including those that were more cringeworthy than damaging including her failed attempts at wooing John F. Kennedy Jr.

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The duchess has found herself at the centre of numerous embarrassing, and serious gaffes, but she's somehow managed to come back from each of them.

In 1992, she was photographed sunbathing topless and having her toes sucked by Texan billionaire John Bryan. The duchess was still married to Prince Andrew at the time but later separated.

In 2010 there was the so-called Fake Sheikh scandal when an undercover News of the World reporter posed as a businessman during a meeting with the duchess. Fergie offered access to her former husband, who at the time was Britain's trade ambassador, in exchange for £500,000, saying she did not have a "pot to piss in".

Much of the bad publicity around the duchess over the years has related to her alleged spending habits and large debts, with claims she has struggled to live within her means.

One often-repeated story is how the duchess once spent $25,000 in just one hour in Bloomingdales in New York.

It was Epstein who helped bail the duchess out of her financial woes, with a debt of £5 million.

She admitted to receiving £15,000 ($30,715) from Epstein to help pay off some of the money she owed.

In a 2011 interview with the Evening Standard newspaper the duchess apologised for accepting the money from Epstein.

"I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf," the duchess said.

"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."

She went on to reiterate her deep "regret" over the friendship, saying that she had made a "terrible, terrible error of judgment".

Now, the emergence of an email sent from the duchess to Epstein weeks later on April 26, is threatening to cancel Fergie once and for all.

"I know you feel hellaciously let down by me from what you were either told or read and I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that," she wrote.

"You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.

"As you know, I did not, absolutely not, say the 'P word' [paedophile] about you but understand it was reported that I did."

The duchess said she was simply following advice to distance herself from Epstein.

"I saw all my children's work disappearing, I didn't want to hurt Andrew one more time."

In response to the emergence of the email, a spokesperson for the duchess said she had apologised to Epstein because he "threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with paedophilia".

"Like many people, she was taken in by his lies," the spokesperson said. "She does not resile from anything she said then."

Where the duchess has found enormous success has been as a best-selling author, with a focus on children's books, with more than 80 titles to her name spanning various genres.

In an interview with nine.com.au last year, the duchess said her mission in recent years was to "look, listen, learn, show up and learn".

"For anyone thinking, 'Oh, you sound alright Sarah', or Fergie or Ginger or Duchy or whatever you call me, it's because I also do the work," she said.

"There can be a lot of darkness, and I'm shining light on my darkness."

Prince Andrew was forced to step back from public life in 2019 following his damaging Newsnight interview when he failed to express any remorse for Epstein's victims. He lost his military patronages and HRH title soon after.

The Duke of York has always strenuously denied any wrong doing when it comes to Epstein.

He and the duchess may find themselves in more negative headlines next month when a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who accused the Duke of York and Epstein of sexual assault, will be published.

It's hard to imagine the duchess coming back from this any time soon, even though there is a huge amount of sympathy and affection for her amongst the public.

The King, and palace courtiers, would no doubt be doing everything possible to shelter the royal family from further damage.

Two of the qualities that has endeared Fergie to millions around the world are her honesty and vulnerability.

Her recent very public cancer battle only increased the levels of sympathy towards her, while her role as a mother to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and as a doting grandmother to their children, only increased her likeability in the eyes of the public.

But her unique ability to bounce back is now facing its biggest test.

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