A friend of Sarah Ferguson has revealed that she is on the cusp of a ‘nervous breakdown’ as her ‘distressed’ daughters are dragged into the scandal erupting over her assosciation with Jeffrey Epstein.

The ex-wife of Prince Andrew spent years defending him during his fall from grace, steadfastly standing by his side – and even sharing the same home, despite having been divorced for many years.

But it is Sarah’s own relationship with paedophile Epstein that has seen her own public life start rapidly crashing down around her. An email she sent the disgraced financier, after publicly declaring she had cut off contact with him, recently emerged, in which she called Epstein a “supreme friend”. Her team claimed she sent the email through fear of threats to her family.

The aftermath was swift, and saw the charities she has long been associated with disavow her, with many declaring it would be “inappropriate” for her to continue to represent them in any capacity.

Then last week, Prince Andrew made a shock statement announcing that he would be giving up the use of his royal titles and honours for good – as would Sarah – after he had a 10-minute phone call with his “weary and furious” older brother, King Charles. He denies all allegations made against him.

And now a royal expert who has spoken to one of Sarah’s friends has since claimed that amid the ongoing turmoil, Sarah is on the verge of having a “nervous breakdown”.

Phil Dampier claimed: “I’m told she has been on the edge of a nervous breakdown,” adding, “I can reveal her older sister Jane has recently flown over from Australia to comfort her in the UK.”

Speaking to Woman’s Day, the expert added: “Sarah is in a bad way and it’s hardly surprising. She needed support and Jane has been there for her when she needed it. She and Andrew know they are to blame but they still feel they are now being kicked mercilessly when they are down. It’s difficult to see what the future holds.”

More shock claims have have emerged this week, including that when Epstein was released from prison in 2009, Sarah and her two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, “celebrated” with the convicted paedophile.

In March 2011, Epstein allegedly wrote an email to his lawyer after Sarah had given an interview disowning him, instructing the legal team that Sarah “should affirmatively state that she was misquoted”.

The sex offender allegedly continued in the email: “[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”.

A source from Sarah’s circle has said that she does not remember this visit and nor do her daughters.

A friend of Sarah’s, Lizzie Cundy, recently defended her on the Jeremy Vine show saying Sarah was “in hell” and totally “devastated” by the email scandal that saw her lose her charitable patronages.

“Sarah is absolutely devastated about losing the charities,” Cundy said. “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.”