Ghislaine Maxwell told a former acquaintance that she and Jeffrey Epstein had “everything on videotape,” it has been claimed.

Christina Oxenberg, a socialite and distant relative of the royals, said Ms Maxwell also once told her that Epstein had purchased his own helicopter because commercial pilots were “eyes and ears” they did not need.

She revealed she had spoken to the FBI about what she had been told.

Ms Oxenberg, 57, first met Maxwell in the early 1990s and said she would never forget a conversation the pair once had in Maxwell’s home.

“We were alone,” she said. “She said many things. All creepy. Unorthodox. Strange. I could not believe whatever she was saying was real. Stuff like: 'Jeffrey and I have everyone on videotape.’”

Several sources have also claimed that Epstein secretly filmed his guests using hidden surveillance cameras scattered throughout his Manhattan mansion.

Ms Maxwell is also said to have told Ms Oxenberg, daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, that Epstein bought her a helicopter when she was awarded her pilot’s certificate.

“Jeffrey doesn’t trust commercial helicopter pilots,” she is alleged to have said. “They are eyes and ears we don’t need. And I can do anything. You see, I don’t make mistakes. I am indispensable to Jeffrey.

“This way nobody knows who’s going to the island. This way we have anonymity and secrecy and privacy.”

Ms Oxenberg wrote on the Patreon website: “When I told the FBI all of this they said they knew about the helicopter but they didn’t know why.

“I was able to provide them why. So that Epstein and Maxwell could conceal what they were up to. Proving they knew they were up to no good.”

US prosecutors continue to investigate sex trafficking allegations and are looking at possible "conspirators" who worked with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison last August.

They have accused the Duke of York of failing to respond to requests for an interview about his friendship with the convicted paedophile.

The Duke was targeted in a stunt by lawyers representing some of Epstein’s victims on Friday, who arranged for a US yellow school bus to be driven past Buckingham Palace with a message on the side appealing to the Duke to answer questions.

Gloria Allred, who represents five of the women, said: “I implore the Prince. I don't know what else he needs us to do. There is nothing else he needs us to do and we're not finished yet.

“I can assure Prince Andrew it's not over until it's over. You must do the right thing and stop shaming your family. for Andrew to answer questions from the FBI.”

A yellow school bus carrying a post-birthday message for the Duke of York, from Ms. Allred was seen driving around the streets of New York this week: