Sarah Ferguson has had her honorary Freedom of the City of York stripped.
The city’s councillors voted unanimously on Thursday to remove the decades-old honour from Ferguson, which she was given in 1987 following her marriage to former Prince Andrew.
The move comes three years after the former Prince Andrew was also stripped of the honour over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Since the release of the Epstein files by the US Department of Justice earlier this year, Ferguson, who was also named in the files, has copped backlash over her friendship with the the disgraced financier.
An email from 2011, revealed she called Epstein her “supreme friend” even after he was convicted, and she apologised for her public criticism of him.
During the meeting on Thursday, councillors debated a motion proposing to revoke the honour from the former Duchess of York, before voting in favour of it.
“Honorary Freedom is bestowed only on persons of distinction and those having given eminent services to the City of York,” the council’s Labour leader Claire Douglas said.
“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,” she continued.
“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.”
A number of charities, including Julia’s House, Natasha’s Allergy Research Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity, Teenage Cancer Trust, and Prevent Breast Cancer, have cut ties with Ferguson.
In October, she was stripped of her duchess title, when her ex-husband relinquished his Duke of York title.
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