Buckingham Palace denies Prince Andrew links to under-age sex claims

Buckingham Palace has issued a strongly-worded denial of allegations that Prince Andrew was involved in “impropriety with underage minors”. The statement was released after the Duke of York was named in a U.S. lawsuit. The woman who has made the allegations claims the disgraced U.S. banker Jeffery Epstein loaned her out to his friends, including the Duke of York. In a motion filed in a court in Florida, she claims she was “forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor” in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island. She is believed to have been 17 at the time - under age according to U.S. law.

This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment in detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.

Buckingham Palace statement

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous and is referred to as Jane Doe 3 in documents, says Epstein, who has been jailed for having sex with a 14-year-old, forced her to have sexual encounters against her will between 1999 and 2002. In the papers, she claims she was effectively recruited for Epstein’s use by Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell, when she was 15 years old. And it is claimed in the court document that Ms Maxwell “was one of the main women whom Epstein used to procure under-aged girls for sexual activities”. Prince Andrew’s friendship with Epstein is well-documented and in an interview in 2011 he denied any sexual contact with any of the young women connected to the multi-millionaire banker.

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