Prince Andrew’s inner circle has hired forensic experts to examine key photos linking him to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal — insisting they were faked as part of an elaborate “stitch-up,” according to a report Sunday.

The Duke of York’s friends hired specialists amid claims that the now-infamous photo of him with his arm around Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre was faked, according to The Sunday Times of London.

“There is something decidedly wrong about it,” a source told the paper.

The experts are also probing the equally notorious photo of the prince and the pedophile strolling through Central Park in 2010 — suggesting that it may have been a set-up by Epstein, according to the report.

Forensic experts were first hired to examine claims that Andrew’s hands are not “chubby” enough to be real in the 2001 photo with Giuffre, who was 17 at the time and claims they had sex just moments later, according to the report.

The expert has already suggested it is “weird” that Giuffre is wearing the “exact same outfit” two months later at a party in Saint-Tropez with supermodel Naomi Campbell, The Sunday Times says.

“Prince Andrew does not recognize the photo. And the more you look at it, the odder it gets,” a source told the paper.

“The Duke is 6ft. Virginia Roberts Giuffre is 5ft 3in. There are certainly not nine inches between them. There is something decidedly wrong about it.”

Andrew’s friends have previously insisted to the same paper that the royal only visited Epstein in 2010 to break off their friendship after the pedophile was a convicted sex abuser.

Now they say the team of experts is looking into photos captured of the pair during the visit — claiming they may have been orchestrated by Epstein to help boost his image, according to the report.

“When they went for that walk, it was a random act,” the source told the paper, suggesting a photographer was hired to capture the pair.

“The protection team never saw a photo being taken. The only way that it could have been taken is from a height. It is taken from an apartment looking down on the park. They were waiting,” the source insisted. “It was pre-planned. Only Epstein knew where they were going to walk. The duke had no idea where he was going.”

Flight logs that seemingly put Andrew and Giuffre on the same plane together “are not reliable,” the source also told The Sunday Times.

“At least half of them, the duke absolutely could not have been on,” the source claimed.

Andrew has denied all the claims against him, insisting he was clueless about his friend’s depraved side.

“His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behavior is abhorrent,” Buckingham Palace said in August.