Prince Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein

The prince’s relationship with Mr. Epstein, whom he met in 1999, has been under scrutiny for years. In the BBC interview, the prince said he had attended dinner parties in which Mr. Epstein hosted “cosmopolitan” figures from politics, academia and business, and the men visited each other’s homes several times.

But Prince Andrew said he had seen “no indication” of wrongdoing by Mr. Epstein at the time.

In 2008, Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution, and served 13 months in a Florida county jail under a widely criticized plea deal. After his release in 2010, Prince Andrew stayed at Mr. Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and was widely criticized for continuing the relationship.

This summer, after the financier was arrested on federal charges and details of allegations against him began to emerge, attention again turned to Prince Andrew’s friendship. In August, Mr. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail.

One of his accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, said that Mr. Epstein had trafficked her to Prince Andrew, and that the prince had sex with her three times, an accusation that he denies. As pressure mounted, the prince agreed to the BBC interview.