Two newspapers have published an email said to have been sent by the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, calling him a "supreme friend" - despite his conviction for sex offences.

The Sun and the Mail on Sunday reported that the email, from 2011, was sent weeks after the duchess had publicly distanced herself from the disgraced financier.

A spokesperson for the duchess - the former wife of Prince Andrew, the Duke of York - said the email was to counter a threat Epstein had made to sue her for defamation.

In an interview in 2011, the duchess said her involvement with Epstein had been a "gigantic error of judgment".

At the time, the duchess also promised she would never have anything to do with Epstein again, saying: "I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children."

She added, "I cannot state more strongly that I know a terrible, terrible error of judgment was made, my having anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein. What he did was wrong, and for which he was rightly jailed."

Epstein had been jailed three years earlier for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

But The Sun and Mail on Sunday said shortly after giving the interview in 2011, the duchess emailed Epstein to say she had not used the word "paedophilia" in reference to him.

"As you know, I did not, absolutely not, say the 'P word' about you, but understand it was reported that I did," she wrote.

"I know you feel hellaciously let down by me. You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family."

A spokesperson for the duchess said the email was sent after Epstein had threatened to sue her for defamation - in an effort to convince him not to.

"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," they said.

"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."

The spokesperson added that the duchess stood by her public condemnation of Epstein.

"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."

Epstein, a well-connected financier and convicted sex offender, was found dead by suicide in 2019 while awaiting a trial for sex trafficking in New York.

Known to associate with the rich and famous - as well as presidents both past and present - he was accused of trafficking a number of young women and girls for sexual exploitation.

Claims that the duchess's former husband, Prince Andrew, sexually abused a woman he was introduced to by Epstein, which were settled out of court with no admission of liability, led to the royal stepping back from his public duties and his military affiliations and charitable patronages being removed.

More recently, revelations about the relationship Epstein had after his conviction with Lord Mandelson precipitated the latter's sacking as the UK's ambassador to the US.

The recent flurry of new information about the disgraced financier's life and friendships comes after a US congressional panel released a trove of documents that belonged to him and were recovered by investigators.