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| Prince Andrew sex case claim denied | Prince Andrew sex case claim denied |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Buckingham Palace has denied "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors" by Prince Andrew, after he was named in US court papers. | Buckingham Palace has denied "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors" by Prince Andrew, after he was named in US court papers. |
| A woman named him in documents she filed in a Florida court over how prosecutors handled a case against financier Jeffrey Epstein. | |
| She claims that between 1999 and 2002 she was forced by Epstein to have sex with the prince when she was a minor. | |
| The palace said it would not comment in detail on the legal proceedings. | The palace said it would not comment in detail on the legal proceedings. |
| But a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "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 on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with under age minors is categorically untrue". | "As such we would not comment on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with under age minors is categorically untrue". |
| The woman says she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein. | |
| Former friendship | |
| The accusation is contained in a motion filed in a Florida court this week, which is part of a lawsuit over how federal prosecutors handled the case of Epstein. | |
| The court document alleges: "Epstein also sexually trafficked the then-minor Jane Doe (a name used in US legal proceedings for people with anonymity), making her available for sex to politically connected and financially powerful people. | |
| "Epstein's purposes in 'lending' Jane Doe (along with other young girls) to such powerful people were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information." | |
| Prince Andrew is one of three well-known men named in the court document who it alleges had sexual relations with the woman. | |
| The prince has previously been criticised for his former friendship with Epstein, who was convicted of sex offences in 2008. | |
| The pair were photographed meeting in December 2010, after the tycoon had served an 18-month prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution. | |
| The prince had also visited Epstein at his Florida home over the years. |