Sarah Ferguson ‘terrified’ of former personal assistant who ‘knows dirty stuff’ about former duchess

The alleged exchange is part of more than three million records made public by the US Department of Justice. The emails are said to be between Jeffrey Epstein and David Stern, a former close aide to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

In a message dated November 27, 2010, Mr Stern seemingly forwarded an unflattering newspaper article about Ms Ferguson. Epstein allegedly replied: “Who talks?” to which Mr Stern responded: “No idea! Details in the article seem very accurate.”

Epstein then wrote: “I know she called me yesterday . . . johnny blah blah.”

Mr Stern appeared to answer: “She is terrified about Johnny. He must know some dirty stuff.”

The Debt Dispute

“Johnny” is understood to refer to John O’Sullivan, who served as Ms Ferguson’s personal assistant for nearly 20 years. He was reportedly owed $126,721 (£110,012), covering unpaid wages and tuition fees for an MBA at Columbia University that Ms Ferguson had agreed to fund.