Sarah Ferguson, ex-wife of ex-Prince Andrew, is shutting down Sarah’s Trust, a charitable organization focused on humanitarian causes, for the “foreseeable future”.
The decision to close the charity comes shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice released new documents related to Ferguson’s involvement with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – a relationship that she kept going even after Epstein’s conviction in 2008.
Here are the details on Sarah Ferguson’s charity closure and its connection to royal controversies
Apart from the Epstein connection, the charitable organization has been under scrutiny for its financial dealings. In fact, it seems that all charitable organizations owned and controlled by members of the royal family have supposedly questionable financial pasts.
Royal expert Hilary Fordwich remarked, “All the charities that members of the York family have been involved with have been viewed as dubious at best,” adding that the family has to be “more transparent” in its dealings.
Daughter of Ferguson and ex-Prince Andrew, Princess Eugenie’s charity, “The Anti-Slavery Collective”, is under scrutiny because the balance sheet doesn’t match up. A watchdog group has reported that the charity barely spent enough for the causes it supports despite collecting $1.7 million in donations.
It does not end here. Meghan Markle’s organization, Archwell Foundation’s shift from a non-profit to a fiscal sponsorship model has also sparked deep speculations. Add to that the report that a charity run by Prince William and Kate Middleton donated millions to a now-closed charity owned by the Sussexes.
The closure of Fergie’s charity puts more pressure on Ferguson and ex-Prince Andrew’s financial arrangements, especially as the two continue to get deeply mired in the Epstein scandal, with more documents revealing that their association may have been deeper and lasted longer than what was originally suspected.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE WORKINGS OF ROYAL-OWNED CHARITIES?
