Sarah Ferguson’s new children’s book withdrawn from sale

Sarah Ferguson's new children's book has been withdrawn from sale after she and ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were stripped of their titles last month. Photo / Getty Images

Sarah Ferguson’s new children’s book has been withdrawn from sale after she and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, her ex-husband, were stripped of their titles.

The former Duchess of York’s book, Flora and Fern: Kindness Along The Way, was scheduled to be published on October 9 but was first delayed to a November 20 release, then “withdrawn from sale”, NielsenIQ BookData, an analytics company, told the BBC.

The book, published by New Frontier Publishing, was about two rabbits, one of which became “lost in the big city”.

Ferguson, who has published more than 50 books, mainly children’s titles, and Mountbatten-Windsor were stripped of their titles last month following the exposure of their lies about their friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the paedophile billionaire who died in a United States prison.

Ferguson lived with her ex-husband in the 30-room Royal Lodge at Windsor for 29 years, following their divorce in 1996. She is understood to now be making her own accommodation arrangements after they were told they had to move out.

In September, it was revealed that Ferguson sent Epstein an email in 2011, after she claimed she had cut ties with him, referring to him as her “steadfast, generous and supreme friend”.

In March 2011, she gave an interview apologising for her “terrible, terrible error of judgment” in associating with him, and promising she would have “nothing ever to do” with him again.

But the following month, she sent him a message “from the truth of my heart”, saying she must “humbly apologise”.

After the email came to light, Ferguson was dropped by seven charities in late September. Among them was the Teenage Cancer Trust, of which she had been patron for 35 years.

Several charities said it would be “inappropriate” for Ferguson to continue her patronage, including Julia’s House, a children’s hospice, and the Children’s Literacy Charity.

Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, the founders of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, said they had been “disturbed” to read of her correspondence with Epstein.

Ferguson’s children’s books include Little Red’s Summer Adventure, Ivy and the Rock, and Ballerina Rosie.

In 2011, she released her memoir, Finding Sarah, in which she said that “after hitting rock bottom” she “gathered the strength to put her life back together”.

Ferguson and New Frontier Publishing were contacted for comment.

Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.