Disgraced financier Epstein was found dead in his New York prison cell on August 10, where he was being held on charges of sex trafficking. Prince Andrew’s relationship with the businessman has been heavily scrutinised following Epstein’s arrest on July 6. The Queen’s son was photographed with the billionaire in New York’s Central Park in December 2010.

The image was taken two years after Epstein admitted prostituting minors in 2008, which led to Epstein to serving an 18-month prison sentence.

Andrew, 59, has repeatedly denied that he had knowledge of Epstein’s involvement in the prostitution of a girl under the age of 18 and the latest allegations.

He released a statement that denied all knowledge of the lurid acts levelled at the deceased banker.

Following Andrew’s return to royal duties, where he was pictured at the Dartmouth Royal Regatta in Devon on Friday, a source close to the Queen said she will be “distressed” by the allegations made against him.

They claimed the Epstein affair “bring a lasting whiff of scandal to the monarchy”.

The source told The Sunday Times: “You’ve got a serious crime linked to the kind of behaviour towards women that people feel particularly strongly about at the moment.

“Andrew’s association with [Epstein] is deeply damaging and he needs to deal with it.”

The furore stems from claims by Epstein’s alleged ‘sex slave’ Virginia Roberts, who said the Prince had engaged in sexual intercourse with her three times when she was 17-years-old.

Her allegations, which Andrew strongly denies, were struck from US civil court records in 2015 after a judge said they were “immaterial and impertinent”.

Andrew said he was made to be part of “a witch-hunt with absolutely no evidence”.

A source insisted the Duke does not remember ever meeting Miss Roberts, who goes by Virginia Giuffre now.

He also cast doubt on a photograph showing them together in 2001.

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The source told The Evening Standard: “Her claims are categorically untrue.

“Sadly, if you go through her testimony there are so many inconsistencies.

“The judge said five years ago that testimony was immaterial and impertinent to any application, and should be stricken.

“There was not one shred of evidence incriminating the duke then and nothing has changed.

“Claims that Miss Roberts went to Tramp nightclub in London with the duke and he was drinking cocktails with her are just not true.

“The duke doesn’t drink, he is teetotal, anyone who really knows him knows that.

“One should ask if Miss Roberts, now Giuffre, believed this is why did she not say something in 2011 when this all first started.”

Andrew was notably absent from Ellie Goulding’s wedding in New York on Saturday.

His daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, as well as their mother Sarah Ferguson attended the ceremony. On August 24, Prince Andrew released a statement following the furore.

The statement read: “It is apparent to me since the suicide of Mr Epstein that there has been an immense amount of media speculation about so much in his life.

“This is particularly the case in relation to my former association or friendship with Mr Epstein.

“Therefore, I am eager to clarify the facts to avoid further speculation.

“I met Mr Epstein in 1999. During the time I knew him, I saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. I have stayed in a number of his residences.

“At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.”

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