The Duchess of York wrote a grovelling apology to Jeffrey Epstein because he allegedly vowed to ruin her financially in court by arguing he was not a paedophile, The i Paper can reveal.

Allies of Sarah Ferguson are trying to limit the damage to her reputation from a leaked email in which she called the convicted sex offender her “supreme friend” and apologised for denouncing him.

They have tried to explain her fawning message to the millionaire financier by detailing the grounds on which he threatened to sue her for libel.

Epstein allegedly insisted that his conviction for procuring someone under 18 for prostitution, and complaints from girls as young as 14, did not conform to medical definitions of paedophilia, which referred to an attraction to younger, pre-pubescents.

But a le

See Full Page