United Kingdom, April 19 -- Sarah Ferguson's recent reclusiveness is driven by a desire to protect her children amid renewed scrutiny linked to Jeffrey Epstein, according to one of her relatives.

Ferguson, 66, the former Duchess of York, was photographed last week outside a wellness clinic in Austria, marking the first time she has been snapped in public in four months after attending the christening of her youngest granddaughter.

Her retreat from public life follows the release of documents in the United States connected to Epstein, the convicted paedophile financier, which further referenced both Sarah and her former husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's friendship with the sex trafficker.

A relative of Sarah's, Martin Barrantes, who ...