The duke met Ghislaine after Epstein probe began

PRINCE ANDREW met alleged pimp Ghislaine Maxwell months after the US Department of Justice announced plans to reopen its inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein, it has been revealed.

The Duke of York saw the British socialite – who has repeatedly denied procuring underage girls for paedophile Epstein – while she was in the UK for a supercar rally this year.

In his BBC interview on Saturday, the prince admitted meeting Maxwell but denied they talked about Epstein.

He told presenter Emily Maitlis: ‘There wasn’t anything to discuss about him because he wasn’t in the news, you know.’ But US prosecutors had already reopened a probe into Epstein, and lawmakers were calling for him to face fresh charges.

The prince and Maxwell, 7, met in

London around June – a month before Epstein was arrested.

He told Maitlis his friend was ‘here doing some rally’. Maxwell had joined celebrities including Paris Hilton for the Cash & Rocket charity event, and shared a car with Nettie Mason, the wife of Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason.

It is thought to be the last time she visited the UK before vanishing from public view amid the FBI inquiry into her links with Epstein.

The US Department of Justice had revealed plans in February to review a plea deal given to Epstein in 2008, when he avoided sex trafficking charges by admitting soliciting a minor for prostitution.

The disgraced financier was arrested again on July 6 this year, and was found dead in his cell in August.