Prince Andrew’s aides claim Jeffrey Epstein pics are faked as forensics investigate

Prince Andrew’s pals claim snaps of the royal with Jeffrey Epstein and one of his alleged victims are “staged” and “doctored”.

Prince Andrew’s friends claim pictures of the royal with Jeffrey Epstein and one of his alleged victims are “staged” and “doctored”.

The Duke of York’s inner circle had forensic experts examine pictures of him with the convicted paedo and Virginia Roberts Giuffre, it has been claimed.

Andrew is believed to have recruited a team to check the authenticity of two photographs that have placed him in the middle of the sordid scandal, The Times reports.

The Prince has said he never took part in, witnessed or suspected any suspicious or unlawful behaviour during his friendship with Epstein.

The first picture examined shows the Duke ambling through Central Park with the filthy financier in 2010 — two years after Epstein admitted to prostituting girls as young as 14.

A second picture shows him at Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home in 2001.

In the picture Andrew has his hands around the waist of Virginia Roberts Guiffre, who was 17 at the time and claims to have been used as Epstein’s sex slave.

The Duke’s lawyers have already questioned the authenticity of the picture, with sources claiming Andrew’s fingers look “too chubby”.

But now claims have emerged that the heights of the royal and Ms Roberts Guiffre don’t look right.

Prince Andrew’s aides claim that the gap in height between the 6ft duke and the 5ft 3ins Virginia Roberts Giuffre proves that this picture has been doctored Picture: Shutterstock

They also claim it is odd that she is wearing the same outfit at a party on a yacht in St Tropez as she is in the pictures with Prince Andrew. Picture: Pool LAFARGUE/LENHOF/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

“Prince Andrew does not recognise the photo,” a source told The Times.

“And the more you look at it, the odder it gets. 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.”

The US Justice Department and the FBI both believe the pictures are genuine.

Ms Roberts Guiffre claims Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew in London, New York and the businessman’s private island.

The source has also flagged concerns over images of Ms Roberts Guiffre at a party in St Tropez, France two months later with British model Naomi Campbell.

They claimed it was “weird” that she seemed to be wearing exactly the same outfit in both photographs taken at the event as she was in the picture with the Duke.

Prince Andrew has always denied any allegations of wrongdoing. “Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement earlier this year.

“It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”

Prince Andrew said of Epstein, “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.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission