Prince Andrew has been interviewed about accusations that he engaged in an orgy with underage girls on the private island of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duke of York has never been publicly questioned about his long friendship with the billionaire financier who took his own life in prison earlier this year, while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

But the royal has now been grilled by Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis in what she described as a “no-holds-barred” interview at Buckingham Palace.

She claimed that no questions were vetted ahead of the interview, which will be broadcast on Saturday.

The 59-year-old royal was accused of taking part in an orgy with nine girls by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was pictured with his arm around her waist when she was 17 years old. She has claimed that the pair had sex on three occasions.

Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Show all 9 1 /9 Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in court Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein attends court as he pleads guilty to solicitation and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, 2008 Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in court Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to felony solicitation and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Epstein, allegedly paid several girls under the age of 18 in return for naked massages at his Palm Beach, Florida estate Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's car Jeffrey Epstein is whisked away from the Palm Beach County jail in a black car shortly after 6am on 22 July 2009. Epstein left the jail through the sally port, where prisoners are brought in, rather than through the main doors where prisoners are routinely released Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mugshot Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mugshot, taken after he was indicted for soliciting a prostitute on 26 July 2006. Beginning in mid-March 2005, Epstein became the target of a sexual battery probe conducted by the Palm Beach Police Department, according to the affidavit, which alleges that Epstein paid a series of underage girls to engage in sexual activity with him. In a 2002 New York magazine profile of Epstein, Donald Trump called the moneyman a 'terrific guy' who 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' Epstein, who reportedly runs a multibillion-dollar investment fund, travels in his own Boeing 727 (upon which he has transported Bill Clinton to Africa) and owns a 45,000-square-foot mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jack Goldberger, Jeffrey Epstein's attorney Jeffrey Epstein's attorney, Jack Goldberger, talks with reporters gathered outside the Palm Beach County jail on 22 July 2009 after Epstein was whisked away from the jail in a black car Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein Florida Police department sexual offenders database picture of Jeffrey Epstein taken in 2013 Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mansion His Palm Beach mansion in Florida Google Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's island The private Caribbean island, Little St James is part of the US Virgin Islands NBC News Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's island The private Caribbean island, Little St James is part of the US Virgin Islands NBC News

“The third time I had sex with Andy was in an orgy on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands,” she wrote in a filing to a Florida court in 2015. “I was around 18 at the time. Epstein, Andy, approximately eight other young girls, and I had sex together. The other girls all seemed and appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn’t really speak English.”

Ms Roberts Giuffre’s allegations about the royal were struck from the US court record later that year.

Another woman, Johanna Sjoberg, also alleged that the duke touched her breast while they sat on a couch in Epstein’s New York apartment in 2001 in documents from a defamation case.

Prince Andrew has previously denied all claims in pre-prepared statements via the Buckingham Palace press office.

Shortly after Epstein’s death he said it was “a mistake and an error” to see the disgraced financier after he was released from prison after serving an 18-month sentence for prostituting minors.

“At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction,” the royal said in a statement. “I have said previously that it was a mistake and an error to see him after his release in 2010 and I can only reiterate my regret that I was mistaken to think that what I thought I knew of him was evidently not the real person, given what we now know.”

But his 12-year friendship with Epstein has been subject to intense scrutiny since the disgraced financier died in custody as he awaited trial over a raft of child sexual abuse and trafficking charges.

In October, investigators from Channel 4’s Dispatches programme established that the pair met at least 10 times during their friendship, with the royal sometimes staying with Epstein for several days.

After the billionaire was released from prison following an 18-month sentence for prostituting minors, Prince Andrew flew across the Atlantic to meet him in New York.

'We are ready and have a lot of questions for him’ Lawyers representing women allegedly abused by Jeffrey Epstein on allegations against Prince Andrew

Epstein’s death in August meant that alleged victims were given only a three-hour hearing to voice their grievances, rather than a face-to-face trial reviewing the evidence.

“The fact I will never have a chance to face my predator in court eats away at my soul,” said one victim, Jennifer Araoz, during the hearing on 28 August. “Even in death, Epstein is trying to hurt me.”

Responding to a reporter’s question about Prince Andrew’s involvement with Epstein outside the courtroom that day, Brad Evans – a lawyer representing multiple accusers – said he had personally extended the invitation to Prince Andrew to face their questioning “multiple times”.

“Any time, we are ready and we have a lot of questions for him,” he said. “We have specific, pointed questions and if he really wants to help, we want his help.”