Sarah Ferguson caught in spotlight as new claim emerges in inquiry

Sarah Ferguson, ex-wife of Prince Andrew, reportedly had contacts with 'access to PPE in China' during Covid-19 pandemic.

The Duchess of York, mother of Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, reportedly offered government officials her connections in China to help secure PPE amid desperate shortages, an inquiry has heard.

Ferguson, popularly known as Fergie, told officials she had contacts with "access to PPE in China" in April 2020, just weeks after the first lockdown was imposed.

An email from April 2020, as reported by Telegraph, shown during the inquiry stated: "The Duchess of York has been in contact with Lord Deighton [the government's PPE adviser] to try and help source PPE."

It continued: "She has some contacts who have access to PPE in China and wants to be able to get these through the system."

The revelation came as the inquiry examined the government's efforts to secure protective equipment during the critical early stages of the pandemic, with supplies of items like gloves and aprons were severely limited at the time.

The inquiry was shown an email dated April 2020 – weeks after the first lockdown was announced – as it heard evidence from .

Dawn Matthias - who reportedly was seconded into the team aiming to secure PPE at the start of the pandemic - was asked during the inquiry whether there was any specific guidance for handling high-profile contacts, in where she replied: "Not specifically, no."

When questioned if someone was tasked with handling referrals from prominent individuals, she explained: "From memory and from my understanding, royalty was sensitively handled by very senior people."

She added: “I don’t recall it ever being an issue and don’t recall it ever being widely discussed or ever receiving any direction that if I for example was directly approached by the Duchess of York for example I was forbidden to deal with that or not."

An email shown to the inquiry said that the Duchess had been in contact with Lord Deighton, the government’s PPE adviser. The evidence emerged as the inquiry examined the "high priority lane" used to expedite PPE contracts.