Sarah Ferguson offered to use her connections in China to source PPE during the early months of the Covid pandemic, an inquiry has heard.
The Duchess of York told officials she had contacts with “access to PPE in China” in April 2020, just weeks after the first lockdown was imposed.
The Covid inquiry was shown emails detailing Ferguson’s offer to help procure much-needed protective equipment when supplies were critically short.
Her outreach came as government officials were desperately trying to secure PPE through various channels.
Sarah Ferguson offered to use her connections in China to source PPE during the early months of the Covid pandemic, an inquiry has heard
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The inquiry heard evidence from Dawn Matthias, a former case worker seconded to the Department for Health and Social Care during the pandemic.
An email from April 2020 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.
Her outreach came as government officials were desperately trying to secure PPE through various channels
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Matthias 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.”
The inquiry also heard that the Royal Family in Dubai had offered assistance with PPE procurement.
Sarah Ferguson resides with her former husband Prince Andrew in Royal Lodge
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This offer reportedly came via former minister Michael Gove and Conservative peer Lord Agnew.
The evidence emerged as the inquiry examined the “high priority lane” used to expedite PPE contracts.
