Real reason Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew fell out

A photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew generated a barrage of negative publiciy — and ultimately ended their friendship.

On August 19, Buckingham Palace put out a statement, signed by Prince Andrew, distancing the British royal from the disgraced financier.

It came just after days The Mail On Sunday published video footage that showed the British prince inside Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2010.

By this time Epstein was a registered sex offender who had served 13 months in jail for abusing underage girls.

But it turns out Prince Andrew had a bitter falling-out with Epstein years before the convicted paedophile committed suicide in prison — or indeed before that grainy footage was published.

The pair fell out eight years before Epstein’s suicide. Epstein was furious over a 2011 New York Post story that dubbed them “the prince and the pervert”, three sources recently told CNN.

The story included an infamous front-page photo of Epstein and Prince Andrew walking together in Central Park in late December 2010 — years after his child sex convictions.

This was the story that reportedly ended Jeffrey Epstein’s friendship with Prince Andrew.

The article stirred up a barrage of negative publicity about the Prince’s friendship with Epstein.

It also sparked separate stories about how Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, had borrowed £15,000 ($A26,891) from the paedophile.

“I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children,” she said at the time, saying she was “contrite” and vowing to have “nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again”.

Her statement infuriated Epstein, who threatened legal action, ultimately ending his friendship with Prince Andrew.

Ms Ferguson’s publicist at the time, James Henderson, told the network about a “deeply unpleasant” phone call he received from Epstein threatening to take legal action.

“It was so unpleasant that I was left slightly rattled and I saved his number so I’d never have to take a call from him again,” Mr Henderson told the network.

He said Epstein then sent the Duchess a legal letter, and that’s when the friendship ended.

Ms Ferguson never ended up retracting her comments, and the British lawyer Epstein hired in the process went on to become friends with the former royal couple.

TIES TO EPSTEIN STILL TARNISHING ANDREW’S REPUTATION

Andrew’s previous ties to Epstein still haunt him to this day.

Just this week, Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre repeated her claims that the financier had made her have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17, according to a Dateline NBC special.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Ms Giuffre told NBC. “I couldn’t believe that even royalty were involved.”

Last month, several powerful men were implicated after 1200 pages of previously sealed court documents were made public.

Among them was Prince Andrew, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

In the court papers, the Duke of York was accused of groping a young woman’s breast while at Epstein’s Manhattan apartment in 2001. The allegation was made by a woman named Johanna Sjoberg.

Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, aged 17, at Ghislaine Maxwell’s townhouse in London in 2001.

According to the document, Ms Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with the Prince on three occasions — in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein — between 1999 and 2002 when she was a minor.

The documents relate to a defamation case in which Epstein’s self-described “sex slave” Ms Giuffre sued Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell. Ms Giuffre had previously claimed Ms Maxwell had helped procure underage girls for Epstein — allegations she branded as “rubbish”.

Prosecutors have not accused Ms Maxwell of any wrongdoing and continue to investigate.

JUST HOW CLOSE WERE EPSTEIN AND ANDREW?

Prince Andrew’s friendship with Epstein dates back to the 1990s. They met through Ms Maxwell, who introduced the pair while they were dating.

Epstein’s relationship with Prince Andrew lasted many years, and they maintained contact even after the billionaire was charged with child sex offences.

Just one week after Epstein was first arrested in 2008, Prince Andrew reportedly flew on the billionaire’s private jet, according to The Sun.

A source told the newspaper: “It is another example of Prince Andrew’s close ties to the Epstein scandal. Weeks have gone by and yet new allegations are still emerging.”

Ms Giuffre, an alleged victim of Epstein, has spoken publicly about the abuse.

In 2011, Vanity Fair published a story referring to a sworn deposition by Juan Alessi, a former employee at Epstein’s Palm Beach estate, stating that Prince Andrew attended naked pool parties at the billionaire’s mansion and received massages from various underage girls.

Prince Andrew denied this, telling the magazine he did not know anything about the parties.

A source who knew the men well told Vanity Fair that Prince Andrew’s main objective in hanging out with Epstein was to get money for his ex-wife Ms Ferguson.

“Andrew feels responsible for Sarah. There have been newspaper reports that Sarah got £15,000 ($A26,891) from Jeffrey, but I think that Sarah has actually received hundreds of thousands of dollars from him.”

Later that year, it emerged Ms Ferguson had received money from Epstein to pay off a debt she owed her former assistant.

“I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me,” she told the Evening Standard newspaper in 2011. “I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say.

“Whenever I can, I will repay the money and will have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.”

Sarah Ferguson pictured with Prince Andrew in 1988.

But arguably the most disturbing evidence came in August this year when The Mail On Sunday published footage claiming to show the Duke of York inside Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2010 — two years after the sex offender’s first conviction.

The Central Park photo was bad enough, but footage of Prince Andrew in the home of a convicted paedophile was even more serious.

Footage showed the Duke of York inside Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2010 — two years after the sex offender’s first conviction.

Buckingham Palace has repeatedly denied allegations linking Prince Andrew to Epstein, saying in an August statement that “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue” and the documents relate to US proceedings “to which the Duke of York is not a party”.

In August, Prince Andrew released a statement regarding his relationship with Epstein, saying he was “eager to clarify the facts to avoid further speculation”.

“I met Mr Epstein in 1999. During the time I knew him, I saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. I have stayed in a number of his residences,” the 59-year-old confirmed.

“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.”

He said it was a “mistake and an error” to see the convicted sex offender after he left jail in 2010, adding he feels “tremendous sympathy for those affected by his actions and behaviour”.

“This is a difficult time for everyone involved, and I am at a loss to be able to understand or explain Mr Epstein’s lifestyle. I deplore the exploitation of any human being and would not condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour,” the Prince said.