A US judge says he is ready to release documents relating to the Duke of Yorks alleged role in securing a plea deal for paedophile tycoon Jeffrey Epstein that potentially shaved 18 years off his sentence.

Federal judge Kenneth Marra has ordered Epstein’s legal team to produce ­“extraordinary circumstances” as to why the papers should not be made public.

The 15,000 pages of suppressed material are believed to contain the names of several powerful figures, including Prince Andrew, who allegedly lobbied on Epstein’s behalf.

News_Image_File: Lady lover: The Duke parties with singer and interior designer Chris Von Aspen in St Tropez. This series of pictures are among many to have re-emerged after new allegations about Prince Andrew’s alleged sexual rendezvous with a minor.



News_Image_File: Prince Andrew was reportedly introduced to Ms Von Aspen after “following her round like a puppy all night”.

If released, details of the royal’s alleged involvement in his former friend’s underage sex ring and the lengths he allegedly went to protect Epstein will be known for the first time, potentially delivering the biggest blow yet to Buckingham Palace since this sordid case came to light.

“Public policy favours judicial records beingopen to the public,” Judge Marra wrote.

SECRET DIARIES: VIRGINIA ROBERTS’ JOURNAL PUBLISHED

“In order for the court to take action inconsistent with that policy, a party seeking to seal a judicial record must provide adequate ­justification overcoming the presumption that filings in civil cases be public.”

The judge said if the defence could not convince him of “extraordinary circumstances”, he would release the explosive document.

News_Image_File: Days later, Prince Andrew gets cosy with Brazilian model Ingrid.

News_Image_File: The Prince found no shortage of beautiful young women to rub shoulders with at the party.

News_Image_File: Ms Von Aspen laughs at something the Duke said. Perhaps.

News_Image_File: Ms Von Aspen shows off her best impression of Prince Charles, Andrew’s brother.

Epstein was jailed for 18 months in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Had it not been for the plea deal, the 61-year-old could have been jailed for up to 20 years.

Lawyers acting for Virginia Roberts, who claims Epstein kept her as a sex slave from the age of 15, forcing her to service his coterie of rich friends, allege the billionaire used his “his powerful political and social connections to secure a favourable plea deal”.

News_Image_File: Prince Andrew appears to be in a serious conversation with Jeffrey Epstein in this photograph taken after the billionaire served 18 months’ jail for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

News_Image_File: Virginia Roberts with Prince Andrew in early 2001. Ms Roberts claims Epstein forced her to have sex with the royal on three occasions.

Two of Epstein’s alleged victims, named as Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2, are suing Epstein on the grounds that they should have been made aware of the deal, which included a protective order preventing any details of the arrangement from being made public.

That order included a non-prosecution agreement ensuring immunity for Epstein’s “potential co-conspirators”, enabling key figures to avoid being forced into the witness box at his trial.

News_Image_File: Brazilian model Ingrid slow-dances with Prince Andrew on the party island of St Tropez.

But that could all change unless Epstein’s lawyers can convince Judge Marra why the documents should remain suppressed, the Mirror reports.

Ms Roberts’ lawyers say the documents potentially include “letters of ­recommendation or similar ­communication to any [US] ­government official vouching for or providing support for Jeffrey Epstein”.

As details of the plea deal emerge, law commentators are questioning how Epstein’s team managed to pull off such a coup in the first place and whether the FBI helped keep Prince Andrew’s name out of the headlines during its 2005 investigation.

It is not clear if ­Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of disgraced newspaper mogul Robert Maxwell who drowned in mysterious circumstances in 1991, is covered by the deal.

DISGRACED: THE RISE AND FALL OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN

According to Ms Roberts, Ms Maxwell acted as a Epstein’s pimp, luring underage girls to properties in London, the US and the Virgin Islands for sex with the rich and famous.

The now 30-year-old moved back to the US with her Australian husband last year after living quietly on the NSW central coast for 13 years with their three children.

Ms Roberts has applied to join the lawsuit lodged by Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 and is writing a book about her years as a sex slave.

Instead of ignoring the allegations levelled at Prince Andrew by Ms Roberts, as is usual practice, Buckingham Palace issued three separate denials, in an unprecedented step.