Aristocrat Lady Victoria Hervey, who once dated Prince Andrew, has revealed how she almost fell into the clutches of his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.

The former 'it girl' and model said she was picked by the disgraced businessman's alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell to join his elite circle when she was 23, 20 years ago.

The encounter happened after she went on a date with Prince Andrew in 1999 which came to nothing but she remained in his exclusive friendship group.

Lady Victoria Hervey spent a week in Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan apartment and believes she was spied on. She was introduced to him after dating Prince Andrew (pictured together at a party in 2002)

The socialite was friends with Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured together in 2004), the alleged madam of Jeffery Epstein

The socialite, now 42, and Andrew were both invited to an intimate dinner hosted by Epstein with only ten people there including Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, according to The Sunday Mirror.

A year later, she was invited to stay in one of Epstein's luxury Manhattan flats while she was pursuing her fashion and model career where she claims she was spied on and filmed.

The millionaire paedophile committed suicide in his cell before a trial could take place

At the time she was unaware of the millionaire's predilection for young girls but she still said she found the experience 'frightening' and fled after a week alone in one of his rooms.

She said: 'All I know is something about that flat did not feel right. Now, after reading about everything that went on, I'm shocked.'

She said a driver picked her up from the airport and dropped her off in the 'sterile' room and she felt in her gut that something was not right.

She decided to move in with a friend because she felt so uncomfortable there on her own.

Lady Victoria considers she may have even been too old to have been picked by Epstein.

She also blasted the 'clueless' Prince Andrew for getting sucked into Epstein's circle.

She said: 'Andrew has something very naive about him. I honestly don't think Andrew knew what was going on.'

Lady Victoria knew Ghislaine Maxwell socially and appears in the 'little black book' of contact Epstein kept at his home.

The socialite (right), pictured with Jemma Kidd and Tamara Beckwith, says she may have been too old for Epstein

The former model, now 42, said she found the whole experience 'frightening' and fled Epstein's apartment after a week

Maxwell denies involvement in the crimes of Epstein and her whereabouts are currently unknown.

Epstein, who was facing federal sex trafficking charges, died behind bars earlier this month in what the coroner ruled a suicide.

But his death, rather than draw a line under questions surrounding his friendship with the world's rich and famous, have increased scrutiny of the extent of his contact with Prince Andrew.