Prince Andrew met with alleged pimp Ghislaine Maxwell in London months after the US Department of Justice revealed plans to reopen its probe into Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duke of York arranged a meeting with Maxwell, who is accused of procuring underage girls for Epstein, while she was in Britain for a glamourous supercar rally with the wife of Pink Floyd's drummer, it can be revealed.

On Saturday's BBC interview with Emily Maitlis, Andrew acknowledged meeting Maxwell but denied they discussed Epstein - despite the fact US prosecutors had in February reopened their probe into the paedophile and his plea deal.

US lawmakers were also calling for Epstein to face fresh criminal charges. He was arrested on July 6, a month after Maxwell and Andrew's meeting in London.

Andrew and Maxwell met up on or about June 5, the day before she set off on the Cash & Rocket charity motoring rally from London.

Maxwell joined a host of celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Chloe Green for the glitzy all-woman supercar rally, which finished four days later in Monaco.

She was conspicuously absent from publicity photographs taken during the high-profile event, and all reference to her was deleted from the rally's website today.

The 57-year-old British socialite shared car number 28 with Nettie Mason, the wife of Pink Floyd rock star Nick Mason, for the duration of the event.

Ghislaine Maxwell took part in the Cash & Rocket rally along with Nettie Mason, the wife of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. Pictured is their car profile from the event's website, which was deleted from view earlier this month

Maxwell joined a host of celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Chloe Green for a glamorous all-woman supercar rally, which finished four days later in Monaco (pictured)

Paris Hilton and Caroline Stanbury are pictured in London ahead of the charity motoring rally. Maxwell was in the UK to take part in the same event earlier this year

Her involvement in the rally is thought to be the last time she visited the UK, before her disappearance from public view amid the FBI inquiry into her links with Epstein.

Gathering storm of US investigation into Jeffrey Epstein before Prince Andrew met Ghislaine Maxwell February: The US Department of Justice reveals its intention to review a plea deal given to Jeffrey Epstein. He had escaped sex trafficking charges in 2008 after a secret arrangement with prosecutors saw him admit to a lesser charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution. US lawmakers call for him to face federal criminal charges for sex trafficking minors. March: Virginia Roberts Giuffre has her appeal heard in relation to the district judge's refusal to unseal documents relating to a 2017 defamation settlement between her and Maxwell. Giuffre's testifies that she was directed by Maxwell to give erotic massages and engage in sexual activities with Prince Andrew, among others. April: A new accuser named Maria Farmer files a sworn affidavit in A federal court in New York in which she alleges that she and her 15-year-old sister were sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell in 1996. June: Prince Andrew and Maxwell meet in London on or about June 5. A day later she goes on a charity rally to Monaco. July: Epstein is arrested in New Jersey on July 6. Two days later he is charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex. August: Epstein is found dead in his cell in New York on August 10. Advertisement

During Andrew's 'disastrous' interview with the BBC on Saturday, presenter Emily Maitlis pressed the prince on the last time he met with his long-time friend Maxwell.

He replied: 'It was earlier this year, funnily enough, in the summer, in the spring, summer. She was here doing some rally.'

When asked by Maitlis if their meeting had taken place after Epstein's arrest in July, Andrew said: 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, this was... this was early spring.'

Maitlis then enquired whether or not the duke and Maxwell had discussed Epstein and the allegations against him during their meeting.

He added: 'Funnily enough, no, not at all. There wasn't anything to discuss about him because he wasn't in the news, you know, it was just... we had moved on.'

While Epstein was not be arrested for another month, the US Department of Justice had revealed plans in February to review a plea deal given to the paedophile.

He had escaped sex trafficking charges in 2008 after a secret arrangement with prosecutors saw him admit to a lesser charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution.

He was arrested once again in July after members of Congress called for the sex trafficking allegations to be reviewed. He was found hanging in his cell in August.

Andrew is now facing intense pressure to speak with prosecutors about his friendship with Epstein.

Last night the Queen effectively sacked Andrew from Royal duties, summoning the distraught Duke of York to Buckingham Palace to learn his fate.

He issued a statement confirming he was, with his mother's permission, 'stepping down' from his public role.

Ghislaine Maxwell was last seen sitting outside an In-N-Out fast food restaurant in Los Angeles in August

Prince Andrew is pictured alongside Ghislaine Maxwell (right) and Virginia Roberts, who claims she slept with the duke at the behest of her sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein

During Andrew's 'disastrous' interview with the BBC on Saturday (pictured), presenter Emily Maitlis pressed the prince on the last time he met with his long-time friend Maxwell

It came after his BBC interview triggered days of catastrophic headlines and caused a string of businesses and charities to desert him.

Following lengthy discussions with the Prince of Wales, who is touring New Zealand, the Queen summoned Andrew to Buckingham Palace and told him to step down.

The 59-year-old prince and his team – led by private secretary Amanda Thirsk – knew speaking publicly about the Epstein scandal was a huge gamble.

But they felt backed into a corner following repeated claims by Virginia Roberts Giuffre that she was 'trafficked' by Epstein to have sex with the Queen's son on three occasions.

Prince Andrew and Maxwell have both strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Details of Ms Giuffre's claims against the prince were later struck from court records when a judge ruled they were 'immaterial and impertinent' to the 'central claim'.

British models Zara Martin and Amy Jackson were also on the charity event, which began in London and ended in Monaco

Prince Andrew met with Ghislaine Maxwell (together at a wedding in 2000) in London a fortnight after the US revealed plans to reopen its probe into Jeffrey Epstein

'I don't recall him staying with me': UK's ex-consul general in New York casts doubt on Prince Andrew's claim he stayed with him on fateful 'sex allegation' trip British Consulate Office in Manhattan Britain's former consul general in New York has thrown doubt on Prince Andrew's assertion that he stayed with him and not Jeffrey Epstein during a trip to the US where it has been claimed he slept with a woman in Epstein's mansion. One of the most high-flying and respected British diplomats of his generation, Sir Thomas Harris, who served in New York from 1999 to 2004, tells the Mail that despite Andrew’s televised claims, the retired diplomat has ‘no recollection’ of the prince staying at his official residence during the trip. ‘It doesn’t sound as if he stayed with me,’ he said yesterday. ‘I don’t recall him staying with me.’ Sir Thomas, 74, admitted he no longer had a copy of his 2001 diary, so was unable to be certain about comings and goings that occurred at his official residence, an apartment just off Central Park, 18 years ago. However, he pointed out that overnight stays by Prince Andrew and other senior royals at a consul-general’s residence tend to be formally registered in the Court Circular, as are associated dinner parties. No such stays were chronicled in the Court Circular for the crucial dates of April 9-11 2001, when the duke was carrying out formal engagements in the US. The three days he spent on official business in New York and Boston are at the heart of the increasingly tawdry scandal surrounding the duke’s relationship with Epstein. It is during this very short period that Mrs Roberts claims that one of their three alleged sexual encounters occurred, in an upstairs room at Epstein’s mansion. What we do know, from official records, is that Andrew did indeed fly to New York from London on the morning of Monday, April 9, meaning he'd have arrived around lunchtime. Advertisement

This morning it was reported that hundreds of Epstein associates could be named in court papers which Maxwell is trying to keep secret.

Lawyers for Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre have asked for the records from a 2015 court case to be unsealed.

Federal judge Loretta Preska revealed in September that there were 'literally a thousand people' mentioned in some of the documents.

In a letter obtained by Law and Crime, Maxwell's lawyers have asked for more time from a federal court as they try to block the release.

'We respectfully submit that we simply cannot complete the task within the time allotted,' they wrote.

'To identify the names of the dozens if not hundreds of [third parties] requires a substantial number of hours and cannot be completed by the deadline.

'We submit there is good cause for a 30-day extension of time.'

The sealed documents date back to a 2015 defamation case between Roberts and Maxwell.

More than 2,000 pages of court documents have already been released and lawyers for Roberts want even more material unsealed.

The trove of court filings includes more than two dozen depositions in which hundreds of third parties are mentioned by name.

The records also include hundreds of pages of investigative reports, said Maxwell's attorney Jeff Pagliuca.

'In some of these documents there are literally a thousand people' mentioned, said federal judge Loretta Preska.

An attorney for one of those people warned in September that the documents may contain 'life-changing' disclosures.

A federal court had ordered attorneys for both sides to submit their arguments by November 19 but Maxwell's lawyers now say they need more time.

The documents which were released in September showed that Epstein repeatedly refused to answer questions about alleged abuse.

Epstein pleaded his Fifth Amendment rights when he was asked whether Maxwell had brought him underage girls.

Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured with Jeffrey Epstein in New York in 2005) is trying to block the release of court documents containing hundreds of names of Epstein associates

Roberts accuses Maxwell of recruiting young women for Epstein and of taking part in the abuse herself.

She launched the defamation suit in 2015 after claiming that Maxwell had subjected her to 'public ridicule' by allegedly calling her a liar.

'My whole life revolved around just pleasing these men and keeping Ghislaine and Jeffrey happy,' Roberts said in one of the papers.

Maxwell denies all the allegations and the case was settled.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail on August 10 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, which he denied.

At the time of Epstein's arrest, prosecutors said they found a trove of pictures of nude and seminude young women and girls at his $77million Manhattan mansion.

The billionaire financier was already a convicted pedophile after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida.

However, he was jailed for only 18 months after striking a controversial plea agreement with prosecutors which was kept secret at the time.