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A friend of Sarah Ferguson has appeared on The Jeremy Vine show to reveal Prince Andrew's ex-wife is "devastated" after being dropped by multiple charities in the wake of her latest scandal. Around seven charities, including The Teenage Cancer Trust, have dropped the Duchess of York as patron following the disclosure of an email she wrote to Jeffrey Epstein in which she described him as a "supreme friend".

Lizzie Cundy opened up about her friend's current state of mind on the show. Cundy described Ferguson as being in a "terrible way." She said: "This is a shock, but he was so aggressive, so unpleasant, I think if anyone, if you thought your family could get hurt and bring your family down, what would you do?"

She added: "I'm afraid, he is a toxic person - even from the grave."

Ms Cundy also revealed: "The fact is when she did condemn him, which she did publicly, it got very nasty. He got huge lawyers onto her as well. She thought she was going to be embarrassed, not only her own family but the rest of the Royal Family."

"Sarah is absolutely devastated about losing the charities," Cundy also shared on the Channel 5 show. "Especially the cancer one, herself had a cancer diagnosis recently, she's absolutely devastated. She's a human being, a mother, she's going through hell."

In a statement, the Teenage Cancer Trust said: "We have made the decision to end our relationship with the Duchess of York, and as of today she is no longer a patron of Teenage Cancer Trust.

"We have communicated this decision to the Duchess. We would like to thank the Duchess of York for her support."

Other charities that have dropped The Duchess of York from the role she played in them are; Julia's House, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, Prevent Breast Cancer, Children's Literacy Charity, The National Foundation For Retired Service Animals and the British Heart Foundation.

It comes after it emerged she had written a gushing message to Epstein, describing him as her "supreme friend". According to The Sun on Sunday, the duchess had emailed him in April 2011 and "humbly apologised" for linking him to paedophilia in the media a few weeks previously.

She said in the message that he was a "steadfast, generous and supreme friend" to her. Meanwhile, Fergie's spokesperson has since said she only wrote the note because Epstein had threatened to sue her.

The Duchess's interview with the Evening Standard in 2011 saw her apologise for accepting £15,000 from Epstein.

In a statement at the weekend, the Duchess's spokesman said: "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."