Andrew ‘lobbied for pedo Epstein’

NEWLY released court files contain allegations the Duke of York lobbied the US government to secure Jeffrey Epstein a controversial plea deal and escape more serious charges.

The documents claim that when Epstein faced a series of allegations of sexually abusing minors in Florida, the Queen’s son put pressure on the government. The pedophile was jailed for 18 months in 2008.

The unsealed testimony also alleges Epstein sent an under-age girl to have sex with Prince Andrew as part of an effort to gather incriminating evidence to blackmail him.

The prince has denied any wrongdoing, and when the case was originally heard in 2015 a judge ordered it to be struck from the record without ruling on its veracity.

The alleged victim, referred to as Jane Doe #3, who appeared to be Virginia Roberts Giuffre, claimed she was told to “give the prince whatever he demanded” in encounters in London, New York and the Virgin Islands, then told to “report back to him (Epstein) on the details of the sexual abuse”.

The documents state that Epstein used his “significant social and political connections ... including efforts on his behalf by Prince Andrew”.

The claims, which appear amid court papers from a civil suit filed by the alleged victim against Epstein’s former girlfriend and business associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015, were unsealed by a federal judge late on Thursday night. The case was settled.

A friend of the Duke called the allegation, “a straightforward untruth. No ifs, no buts.”

Ms Maxwell, 58, was arrested last month and pleaded not guilty to charges she groomed minors for Epstein from 1994 to 1997. She had fought to stop the release of the documents.

Epstein killed himself in a New York jail last August while awaiting trial on sextrafficking charges. He was 66.