The Duke of York has said he is ‘appalled’ by recent sex abuse claims surrounding his former friend Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince Andrew released a statement after new footage emerged showing him inside the convicted paedophile’s Manhattan mansion in 2010.
The video was shot on December 6 2010, around the time Andrew was photographed with disgraced billionaire Epstein in New York’s Central Park.
It shows the duke looking out from a large door of the mansion – dubbed the ‘House of Horrors’ by some of his victims – waving a woman goodbye after Epstein leaves to get in a chauffeur-driven car.
Prince Andrew is seen here in the Mail On Sunday’s exclusive video at Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2010
A Buckingham Palace statement said: ‘The Duke of York has been appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes.
‘His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is abhorrent.’
After the new video emerged, a source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The Prince looked entirely at ease in Epstein’s house.
‘There were girls coming and going. One, who came out of the house with Epstein about an hour before Prince Andrew said goodbye to the brunette, was tiny and shivering.
The video shows Epstein leaving, and a young blonde-haired woman with a ponytail emerges from behind the imposing Manhattan home’s 15ft-high oak doors in a flimsy grey sweater
She talks to a Bentley driver for a moment, clasping her hands as if asking for something, before dashing back towards the front door
The blonde-haired woman shivers on the doorstep before the door opens and a woman resembling Epstein’s former PA Sarah Kellen emerges
As the young woman disappears inside the 40-room mansion, ‘Kellen’ in scarf and polo neck walks towards Epstein’s car
‘It was a particularly cold New York December day. What I remember most is the constant procession of girls and women going to and from the house.
‘It was chilling to see. Everyone knew by that point that Epstein was a convicted paedophile, yet he was flaunting his lifestyle in plain sight.
‘When the Prince came to the door I was stunned. He looked totally at ease. He said a few words to the girl, who was very pretty, and then she walked off down the street in the direction of Central Park.
‘If I hadn’t known it was Prince Andrew, I would have thought he owned the place. He looked so comfortable and relaxed as he stood there at the door.
The Duke has vehemently denied claims by Epstein’s alleged ‘sex slave’ Virginia Roberts (right) that she had sex with the Prince on three occasions, the first when she was 17 and once at the US millionaire’s now-notorious 40-room mansion at 9 East 71st Street in Manhattan
‘He didn’t appear to have a concern in the world as he smiled and waved goodbye to the girl.
‘It was only as the girl walked off that he glanced around the door frame, almost as if to check no one was watching.’
It also emerged last night that Andrew hosted the paedophile and his entourage at Balmoral.
One of the young women on the trip told the Daily Mail how the prince personally welcomed the party to the castle in mid-1999 – after the disgraced US financier had already begun recruiting dozens of underage girls as sex slaves.
The Duke has been supported by the Queen in the wake of renewed scrutiny after Epstein’s death, namely by allowing him to sit next to her during a trip to Balmoral (pictured) last week
The prince has been dogged by accusations of a lack of judgment about his links with Epstein.
The duke quits his role as UK trade envoy after fallout from the the Central Park photos.
Buckingham Palace has issued strong denials over claims from a woman who said she was forced to have under-age sex with the duke.
Virginia Roberts alleged in court papers in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, which is under the age of consent in the state.
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell in a New York jail earlier this month while facing new allegations of sex trafficking
She alleged she had sex with Andrew ‘three times, including one orgy’ in London, at Epstein’s New York home, and at an ‘orgy’ on his private island in the Caribbean.
But Buckingham Palace has branded the allegations ‘false and without any foundation’, stating: ‘Any suggestion of impropriety with under-age minors’ by the duke was ‘categorically untrue’.
Epstein, 66, killed himself in his jail cell in New York earlier this month after being charged with sex trafficking.
The financier’s visit to to Balmoral is thought to have taken place in late summer or early autumn – when the Queen is likely to have been in residence.
Speaking on condition of anonymity yesterday, the woman who joined Epstein at Balmoral 20 years ago recalled making ‘chitchat’ with the prince.
‘He was really nice. He was very polite. [He had his] guard up,’ said the woman, who was then a model in her 20s.
She told how the group stayed overnight at the 52-bedroom castle, and spent the following day being entertained in the grounds.
Epstein and his entourage visited the estate as part of a week-long trip to the UK, during which they also stayed at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-partner who has been accused of lining up underage girls for him to have sex with.
The woman who joined them on the trip – not long after she had started giving sexual massages to Epstein – recalled how she had felt like she was in a ‘fairytale’, brushing with royalty. But now she says she had no idea why she was ever included in the visit.
‘Why was I really there?’ she said. ‘Did [Epstein] really enjoy my company all that much or was I being prepped to end up being sent out like a gift to some people?’
She avoided any plans Epstein may have had for her that evening by retiring to bed early.
Nearly a year later, in June 2000, Epstein and Miss Maxwell attended a party at Windsor Castle hosted by the Queen to mark Andrew’s 40th birthday, Princess Anne’s 50th, Princess Margaret’s 70th and Prince William’s 18th.
One of the young women on the trip told the Daily Mail how the prince personally welcomed the party to Balmoral (pictured) in mid-1999 – after the disgraced US financier had already begun recruiting dozens of underage girls as sex slaves