Prince Andrew's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is back in the spotlight after UK media published an email between the pair over the weekend.
UK newspapers The Mail on Sunday and The Sun on Sunday both published reports claiming Prince Andrew sent an email to Epstein in 2011, contradicting the royals' assertion the prince cut off all contact with Epstein in 2010.
The ABC has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
The email had been made public earlier this year but the sender was not confirmed.
Now, the UK tabloids claim to have verified that Prince Andrew did in fact send the email.
It comes ahead of a new documentary, called Prince Andrew and The Epstein Email Scandal, that is due to be broadcast in the UK on Monday night, local time.
What did the email say?
Both The Mail on Sunday and The Sun on Sunday featured the following text:
"I'm just as concerned for you!
"Don't worry about me!
"It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it.
"Otherwise keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon!!!!"
The email was signed with the letter "A" and "HRH The Duke of York KG".
It's not the first we've heard of the email, which was included in court documents for former Barclays bank chief executive Jes Staley's case against the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Mr Staley stepped down from his role following the FCA's investigation into his links with Mr Epstein in 2021.
The FCA banned him from holding senior positions in the banking industry, with Mr Staley appealing against the regulator's ruling — an appeal he lost in June.
The FCA included the above email as part of its court submissions, which Bloomberg obtained and reported upon.
At the time, the email was only reported to have been sent from a "member of the British Royal Family" — however the BBC reported the email was believed to have been sent from Prince Andrew.
However, The Mail on Sunday says it has confirmed the email came from Prince Andrew by verifying the email address.
When was the email sent?
Both newspapers say the email was sent on February 28, 2011.
That's the day after The Mail on Sunday first published a photo from 2001 of Prince Andrew with his arm around then-teenager Virginia Giuffre (formerly Virginia Roberts), the newspaper pointed out.
Ms Giuffre, who died earlier this year, alleged she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew — a claim he has repeatedly denied.
In 2022, Ms Giuffre and Prince Andrew reached a settlement in a civil case, with the royal agreeing to make a donation to Ms Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights.
According to the court documents, the email came after a "discussion of press articles".
In December 2010 — about two months before the email was sent — Prince Andrew was photographed with Epstein in New York.
This was shortly after Epstein was released from prison after he was convicted of procuring a girl under the age of 18 for prostitution.
The New York Post published those photos in its February 21 edition, with the headline "Prince & perv".
Time stamp contradicts Prince's claim
The timing of the email is one of the main points of interest, as it contradicts Prince Andrew's assertion he had cut ties with Epstein in 2010.
The claim was made by Prince Andrew in his infamous interview with the BBC in November, 2019.
When interviewer Emily Maitlis asked him about his visit to Epstein in New York, Prince Andrew said he did so to end their friendship face-to-face.
"By mutual agreement, during that walk in the park, we decided that we would part company and I left I think it was the next day," Prince Andrew said.
"And to this day I never had any contact with him from that day forward."
Later in the interview, Maitlis asked Prince Andrew if he'd had any further contact with Epstein, asking if he'd seen or spoken to the sex offender since the December 2010 meeting.
"No … 2010 was it," he replied.
