Sarah Ferguson has been dropped as the patron of multiple charitable organizations after it emerged that she sent an email to Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 apologizing for publicly disowning him.

On Sept. 22, the children’s hospice Julia’s House announced that it was parting ways with the Duchess of York, 65, after news of the email was released over the weekend.

“Following the information shared this weekend on the Duchess of York’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein, Julia’s House has taken the decision that it would be inappropriate for her to continue as a patron of the charity. We have advised the Duchess of York of this decision and thank her for her past support,” Julia’s House said in a statement to PEOPLE.

A spokesperson for the Duchess of York declined to comment on her status with Julia’s House but shared a statement to PEOPLE addressing the reports about her email to Epstein: “The Duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been her first thoughts are with his victims. Like many people, she was taken in by his lies. As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with paedophilia. She does not resile from anything she said then. This email was sent in the context of advice the Duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.”

Later on Sept. 22, the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity, Teenage Cancer Trust and Prevent Breast Cancer also announced they had dropped the Duchess of York as their patron, according to the BBC. The outlet added that the British Heart Foundation also announced Sarah would no longer be their ambassador.

The update comes after The Sun and The Mail on Sunday reported on Sept. 20 that the Duchess of York, who is popularly known as Fergie, sent Epstein an effusive email in 2011 praising him as “a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family” weeks after revealing in an interview that she regretted accepting money from him and vowed not to contact him again.

The exchange occured after Epstein was convicted on June 30, 2008, in a Florida state court. He was charged with one count each of soliciting a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution.

Fergie was married to Prince Andrew from 1986 to 1996, and the former couple shares daughters Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35. Prince Andrew stepped back as a working member of the royal family in November 2019 following his explosive BBC interview about his links to the late Epstein, who died in prison that August while awaiting trial on federal conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.

In March 2011, the Duchess of York told the London Evening Standard that accepting around $20,000, paid to her former assistant, from Epstein had been a mistake.

The Duchess of York told the outlet then, “I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me. I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite, I cannot say. Whenever I can, I will repay the money and have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.”

“What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed,” she continued.

“I will never have anything to do with him again. I deeply regret it. How many more times do you want me to underline that?” she added.

Weeks later, however, the Duchess of York reached out to Epstein to apologize for her words.

The Sun reported that Fergie’s April 26 email said, “As you know, I did not, absolutely not, say the P (pedophile) word about you. I know you feel hellaciously let down by me. And I must humbly apologize to you and your heart for that.

“You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family,” the message allegedly said. “I am apologizing to you today for not replying to your email or reaching out to you. I was bedridden with fear. I was paralyzed. I was advised in no uncertain terms to have nothing to do with you and to not speak or email you. And if I did — I would cause more problems to you, the Duke and myself. I was broken and lost. So please understand. I didn’t want to hurt Andrew one more time. I was in overriding fear. I am sorry.”

According to The Sun, a friend of Fergie’s said that she penned the email after Epstein threatened her with aggressive legal action.

The BBC reported that Fergie became patron of Julia’s House in 2018, though her name has since been scrubbed from the website.

Julia’s House works to support the families of children with life-shortening and life-threatening conditions and operates hospices in Dorset and Wiltshire. Other famous patrons include Guy Ritchie and Trudie Styler.