Royal Sources Refute Jeffrey Epstein’s Claims in Emails That Sarah Ferguson Celebrated His Release with Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie

As the fallout and backlash from Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's past connections with Jeffrey Epstein continues to rip through the royal family like tornado, the disgraced royal couple's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, have been caught in the crossfire.

According to a report from People, the recent wave of newly-leaked documents includes "previously unseen emails reportedly showing that Epstein financially supported Sarah and that she allegedly brought daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie to visit the convicted sex offender after he was released from jail."

The rumors about Beatrice and Eugenie's alleged entanglement in the scandal include a report published by The Daily Mail that referenced an email Epstein sent his lawyer, Paul Tweed, in 2011 in which he alleged that Ferguson "was the first to celebrate my release with her two daughters in tow."

As People notes, Beatrice and Eugenie would have been just 20 and 19 years old, respectively, when Epstein was released from jail in summer 2009 and claims they joined their mother in "celebrating" on his behalf.

If these claims seem suspicious and out-of-character for Beatrice and Eugenie, it's for good reason. A royal source refuted the claims regarding Beatrice and Eugenie, telling People that the sisters never met Epstein.

A source tells PEOPLE that Beatrice and Eugenie never met Epstein.

This was echoed by a source close to Ferguson who spoke to The Telegraph about the claims in Epstein's email and reportedly "insisted that neither she nor her daughters–who would have been 20 and 19 at the time–had any recollection of such a visit."

Ferguson and her former husband, Prince Andrew, have seen their reputations battered amid revelations that their ties to Epstein appear to have continued longer than they publicly claimed in the past.

While Ferguson told the London Evening Standard in March 2011 that she would have "nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again," newly-released emails from Epstein suggest that wasn't true. According to the Daily Mail, Epstein directly addressed statements she made in that interview, telling his lawyers in emails that Ferguson "should affirmatively state that she was misquoted."

"[Sarah] took apartments in New York. She was the first to celebrate my release with her two daughters in tow. She visited me with [a] policeman sitting at my front desk. She has asked for help with her charities," he reportedly wrote in the emails.

Last week, Prince Andrew voluntarily relinquished his royal titles, as did Ferguson, who had retained her title as Duchess of York following their divorce in 1996.