Prince Andrew told Jeffrey Epstein that they would “play some more soon” two months after he claims to have ended contact with the convicted paedophile.
Newly surfaced messages have revealed the Duke of York remained in contact with the disgraced financier until February 2011 - despite having claimed to have cut him off in December 2010.
Emails between Andrew and Epstein handed to a court in London reportedly show they were still exchanging messages until at least late February 2011, when the duke wrote: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon.”
Messages were exchanged between the pair on the same day a photograph of Andrew with 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell - who is currently behind bars for recruiting and trafficking underage girls for Epstein - was published, Bloomberg reports.
Ms Giuffre has accused Andrew of sexually abusing her on Epstein’s private island Little St James as a teenager, which the prince “unequivocally” denied.
In 2022, he agreed to settle her civil claim for an multi-million dollar sum, without admitting liability.
The emails were obtained by Bloomberg after being disclosed in a filing by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), defending an appeal by former Barclays boss, Jes Staley, who is challenging its decision to ban him from the finance industry for misleading regulators on his ties to Epstein.
Emails show the Epstein invited Andrew to meet Mr Staley on February 27 2011, writing: “Jes staley will be in London next tue afternoon if you have time.”
Andrew replied: “Jes is coming on 1st March or next week?”
In 2019, Andrew told Emily Maitlis in an infamous BBC Newsnight interview that he had ended contact with Epstein in 2010, after the pair were seen walking together in New York’s Central Park.
During the interview, he denied he slept with Ms Giuffre, saying an encounter could not have taken place because he was at a branch of Pizza Express in Woking with his daughter Princess Beatrice.
He also said Ms Giuffre’s claim he was sweaty at a nightclub was untrue because an “overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands war” had left him unable to sweat.
Four days later, Andrew announced the Queen had given him permission to step back from public duties in the wake of the interview. In January 2022, the Queen stripped Andrew of his military titles and royal patronages in the wake of a US judge allowing Ms Giuffre’s civil sexual abuse case against her son to move to trial.
In March 2022, Andrew paid Ms Giuffre a multi-million-pound out-of-court settlement, meaning both sides avoided the case going to trial.
As part of the agreement, he was due to pay damages to Ms Giuffre and a donation to a charity “in support of victims’ rights”.
The Independent has attempted to contact the Duke of York for a comment.
