The Duchess of York has spoken out on her ex-husband's ties to the disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein for the first time.

Sarah Ferguson has insisted she will support Prince Andrew amid the engulfing scandal surrounding the royal's friendship with the convicted paedophile.

The 59-year-old, who has remained close to Andrew since their split in 1996 and is the mother of his two daughters, talked up the importance of 'familyhood' when asked if she was standing by the prince.

Prince Andrew has maintained that he never 'witnessed or suspected any improper behaviour by Epstein' and strenuously denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

Fergie herself has a history with Epstein, having accepted £15,000 from the American businessman to help pay off a personal debt.

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Sarah Ferguson (pictured left at a charity event in London on Tuesday) has come out in support of her ex-husband (pictured with Epstein in New York in 2011, right)

Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in early 2001

Breaking her silence on the Epstein connections at the Luminous BFI Gala Auction on Tuesday, she told The Sun: 'I think the most important thing in life is familyhood.'

She also claimed that the world needed more 'kindness', adding: 'I think people should be much more supportive of young people now.'

Prince Andrew has also faced allegations that he slept with Epstein's 'sex slave' Virginia Roberts while she was 17 years old, an accusation he strongly denies.

In 2011, Fergie admitted a 'gigantic error of judgement' over a loan from Epstein and said: 'I deeply regret Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me.'

'I abhor pedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf,' she said at the time.

The statement allegedly prompted Epstein to place a 'deeply unpleasant' phone call with Ferguson's camp and threaten them with a lawsuit.

Epstein's lawyers apparently threatened legal action unless the Duchess retracted the word 'pedophilia', sources said.

The billionaire's legal battle unraveled and he was eventually sued himself by the company he had hired to fight the case, it is claimed.

Prince Andrew (left on September 9) has been dogged by his links to Jeffrey Epstein (right), a billionaire paedophile accused of enslaving girls and forcing them to have sex with his friends

Epstein was arrested on July 6 by FBI agents after he landed at Teterboro airport in New Jersey following a flight from Paris Le Bourget airport in his private jet.

U.S. prosecutors had alleged that Epstein 'sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls' from 2002 to 2005 at his properties in New York and Florida.

Epstein – who faced 45 years in prison – had entered a 'not guilty' plea when he appeared before judges on July 8.

He killed himself in the Manhattan jail on August 10 while faces sex trafficking charges.

Earlier this year the Duke admitted it was a 'mistake' to meet Epstein in New York in 2011 after the billionaire's release from prison for child sex offences.