When a royal figure claims she was „deceived," it is worth reading the fine print. New documents reveal that Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, visited Jeffrey Epstein twice in 2009 - while he was formally serving a sentence for sexual offences.

According to British media, the two meetings took place at an office in Palm Beach, Florida, which housed a sham organisation called the „Florida Scientific Foundation" - a front Epstein set up to obtain permission to work while in prison. The first visit was in April 2009. Ferguson sent him a message asking whether they could have a „quick tea," signing herself „Sarah, the redhead." After the meeting, Epstein wrote to her that she looked „wonderful."

Her reply is what reads with difficulty today: „My dear, spectacular and special friend Jeffrey. You are a legend and I am very proud of you. Thank you for caring for me." The second visit was in May the same year - Epstein's driver picked her up from the airport. Later that summer, he wrote to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell: „Ferg and the two girls came," referring to Ferguson and her daughters.

A representative of the duchess claims she was „deceived by his lies" and that she publicly condemned him as soon as she understood the gravity of the accusations. Perhaps. But the letters in which she calls him a „legend" were not written by someone who was deceived - but by someone who at that moment saw nothing problematic. The difference between „I didn't know" and „I didn't want to know" is essential, and it is precisely that which the royal houses most want to blur. The question is not whether Ferguson erred 17 years ago - but why the truth comes out only now, when all the main players are dead or convicted.