Buckingham Palace: Sex claim against Prince Andrew "categorically untrue"

Buckingham Palace issued a rare response Friday to allegations by a woman who said she was repeatedly forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was a minor.

In papers filed to a Florida court, an unidentified woman alleges that U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was a minor in London, in New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein. The filing says the alleged encounters took place around 1999 to 2002.

In a statement issued to reporters, a 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 underage minors is categorically untrue."

The allegations come from documents filed in a Florida court this week as part of a long-running lawsuit involving Epstein, a billionaire investor, convicted sex offender and friend of Prince Andrew until the British royal cut off their ties in 2011.

Epstein served 13 months of a 18-month sentence after agreeing to plead guilty to state charges involving solicitation of a minor for prostitution in 2008. The recent lawsuit, aimed at federal prosecutors, was brought by women who say they were sexually exploited by Epstein and who say prosecutors made the plea bargain agreement without consulting them.

The latest documents and the allegations involving Prince Andrew came as part of a request by two women, identified as Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4, to join the action brought by two other anonymous women.

In the papers, filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida on Dec. 30, the woman identified as Jane Doe 3 says she was "converted into a sex slave" by Epstein. The document states that Epstein "sexually trafficked the then-minor Jane Doe, making her available for sex to politically-connected and financially powerful people... One such powerful individual Epstein forced Jane Doe 3 to have sexual relations with was a member of the British Royal Family, Prince Andrew (a/k/a Duke of York)."

The prince is not a named party to the legal claim and has not had any opportunity to respond to the allegations in the legal claim.

"It is interesting Buckingham Palace issued this statement in the first place because in the past the Palace would not have commented on such things, they would just hope they'd go away," Peter Hunt, BBC's royal correspondent, wrote Friday.

Prince Andrew Albert Edward Christian, son of Queen Elizabeth II and fifth in line to the throne, has long been plagued by his relationship with the wealthy and politically connected Epstein. The royal stepped down as the U.K. special representative for trade and investment in 2011, a position he held for a decade, after he was photographed meeting with Epstein, who was then a convicted sex offender.

Prince Andrew has previously been accused of spending time with minors Epstein was allegedly sexually exploiting, but he had not yet been named in a court document as a participant in sexual activity with the victims.

A 2009 lawsuit against Epstein, flagged by Politico, states that the anonymous plaintiff in the case was "sexually exploited by [Epstein's] adult male peers, including royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen, and/or other professional and personal acquaintances."

After one of Epstein's associates also named in the latest suit called the allegations fabricated "in order to extort money from Mr. Epstein," Jane Doe 3 told The Guardian in a statement: "I'm not going to be bullied back into silence."