Friends of the Duke of York have cast doubt on claims he was spotted dancing with a 17-year-old ‘sex slave’ in a nightclub, pointing out he attended a party at the same venue three days later.

Insiders said that The Duke visited Tramp nightclub ‘a lot’ at the time and suggest that while eyewitnesses might have seen him there, they cannot possibly be sure which female acquaintances he was with.

Friends sprang to the defence of the Duke as he came under growing pressure over his close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who killed himself in the summer.

A lawyer acting for some of Epstein’s victims said she had spoken to two witnesses who saw the Duke dancing in the nightclub with Virginia Roberts in March 2001.

Ms Roberts, who was just 17 at the time, claims she was brought to London by Epstein and forced to have sex with the Duke.