Thousands of copies of Sarah Ferguson’s new children’s book have reportedly been withdrawn and “pulped” in the wake of the renewed scrutiny over her links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The book had been due for publication on 9 October, but was postponed until 20 November. It has now been removed entirely from publication schedules, and publishing sources have claimed that printed copies are being sent for recycling.
“It’s not been delayed, it’s being pulped,” one publishing insider told the Daily Mail. “It’s an acknowledgment of the inevitable. No one is going to want to buy it.”
The news follows a period of scandal for Ferguson, 66, who earlier this month lost the title Sarah, Duchess of York after King Charles stripped Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his remaining titles. She is also expected to lose her long-term home at Royal Lodge in Windsor, where she has lived for decades with her former husband, despite their separation.
The withdrawal of the book also prompted the cancellation of a series of planned in-person readings and bookshop appearances. The title has disappeared from the publisher’s website and is no longer listed on major retailers including Waterstones and Amazon. Ferguson has not commented publicly on the decision.
The former duchess has published more than 50 books – largely children’s titles – over several decades, including the Little Red series, Puddle Boots Christmas, and Flora and Fern: Wonder in the Woods, released last year. Her latest was due to be a follow up, Flora and Fern: Kindness Along the Way, about two rabbits learning “kindness and community” during an adventure in the big city. She has also written romantic fiction and published a memoir in 2011, Finding Sarah: A Duchess’s Journey to Find Herself, charting her efforts to rebuild her life “after hitting rock bottom”.
In September, the Mail on Sunday published emails from 2011, in which Ferguson privately described Epstein as her “supreme friend” and apologised for “letting him down”, despite having publicly called her association with him “a gigantic error of judgment”. The messages were sent less than two months after she had insisted she would “never have anything to do with [Epstein] again”, amid pressure over the ties she and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had maintained with him – including a £15,000 payment Epstein made to help settle her debts.
A spokesperson for Ferguson said she had been compelled to write the emails because Epstein had threatened her. The scandal has seen Ferguson dropped by numerous charities with whom she had long-term associations.
New Frontier Publishing did not respond to a request for comment.
