Prince Andrew speaks publicly about his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein

Prince Andrew is finally going to break his silence on his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in a BBC special to be broadcast tomorrow night.

The Duke of York has been interviewed by Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis and will be broadcast on BBC 2 at 8pm on Saturday.

The BBC has not released any details about what was said, but Ms Maitlis said it was a ‘no holds barred interview – no questions vetted’.

Prince Andrew (left on September 9) is dogged by his links to Jeffrey Epstein (right), a billionaire paedophile accused of enslaving young girls and forcing them to have sex with his friends

Virginia Roberts (pictured) alleges she was coerced by paedophile US businessman Jeffrey Epstein, a friend of the Duke, into having sex with Andrew on three occasions

The Duke of York was rocked by Jeffrey Epstein’s unexpected death in a New York prison in August – with questions raised about whether it was suicide or murder.

And in the chaos that followed, Victoria Roberts Giuffre appeared on American television repeating her allegations against the Duke of York.

The 36-year-old alleges she was coerced by paedophile US businessman Jeffrey Epstein, a friend of the Duke, into having sex with Andrew on three occasions.

She said: ‘I know their faces and I know what they’ve done to me.’

Miss Giuffre, appearing with four other alleged Epstein victims, again claimed that she once had sex with the prince in a bathroom — and that he had said ‘thank you’ afterwards.

The 35-year-old was a teenager when she appeared in a now notorious photograph with Andrew’s arm around her waist, alongside Epstein’s friend, the British socialite and daughter of Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell, now 57.

She also alleged that beforehand she was told by Miss Maxwell: ‘I want you to do for him what you do for [Jeffrey] Epstein.’

Miss Giufre said that Andrew was a ‘participant’, adding that even though the duke may deny it ‘he knows the truth and I know the truth’.

Virginia Roberts photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in early 2001. Maxwell was 

The prince has always denied any inappropriate behaviour or being aware of any such behaviour from Epstein, and in 2015 her allegations about Andrew were thrown out by a US judge who ordered them struck out as ‘immaterial and impertinent’.

She repeated her claim that she was loaned out to Andrew for sex in March 2001 when she was 17 after Epstein flew her to the London townhouse owned by Miss Maxwell.

At the time, Miss Roberts had been in Epstein’s orbit for months and was being paid to have sex with him at his command. She claimed in court documents that she was loaned out to his friends.

Now a 36-year-old married mother-of-three she said: ‘That first time in London I was so young. Ghislaine woke me up in the morning and said you’re going to meet a prince today. I didn’t know at that point I was going to be trafficked to that prince.

‘That night Prince Andrew came to her house and we went out to Club Tramp. Prince Andrew got me alcohol, it was in the VIP section, I’m pretty sure it was vodka. Prince Andrew was like let’s dance together, I was like OK.

‘We leave Club Tramp and Ghislaine said he’s coming back to the house and I want you to do for him what you do for Epstein. I couldn’t believe it’. Miss Roberts, who wiped away tears during the interview, said that after sex in the bathroom ‘he wasn’t rude or anything, he said thank you and some kind of soft sentiments like that and left’.

She said: ‘I just couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe that even royalty were involved.’ Miss Roberts has also claimed that Andrew had sex with her in New York and on Epstein’s private island in the Carribean. She said: ‘He denies that it ever happened but he knows the truth and I know the truth’.