Prince Andrew in touch with Jeffrey Epstein for longer than previously claimed, according to emails

Prince Andrew told Jeffrey Epstein they would ‘play some more soon’ months after he claimed to have cut ties with the convicted paedophile.

The Duke of York claimed in a now-infamous interview with Newsnight that he had ended contact with Epstein in December 2010, after they were pictured walking in New York’s Central Park together following the latter’s release from prison.

But according to Bloomberg, emails filed in a London court show that he was in contact until at least late February 2011, when the Duke wrote: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon.”

The discussions recorded on email included conversations on the day that the infamous 2001 photograph of Prince Andrew, Ghislaine Maxwell and a 17-year-old Virgina Giuffre was published.

In 2014, Ms Giuffre alleged that she was sex trafficked to the Prince by Epstein and Maxwell.

Epstein took his own life in 2019 inside a New York correctional facility while waiting to face Federal sex trafficking charges.

After Epstein’s death Maxwell, who helped the disgraced billionaire recruit young women and underage girls, was arrested.

In 2022 she was convicted of five Federal charges, including one of sex trafficking of a minor.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison and is facing a second criminal trial for lying under oath.

The Duke of York agreed to what is believed to be a $25.7m settlement with Ms Giuffre in 2022 after she sued him for sex assault without any admission of wrongdoing.

It was the latest chapter in a spectacular fall from grace for the UK royal, who had resigned from his public roles in 2020 before his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, stripped him of his military affiliations and charitable patronages in 2022.

At the Queen’s funeral later that year, the Prince was prohibited from wearing his military uniform.

According to Bloomberg, the emails revealed in London this week were part of a filing by the Financial Conduct Authority, which is defending an appeal by Jes Staley, the former boss of Barclays bank.

Staley was fined $3.6 million and banned from holding a senior management position in financial services in 2023 for making misleading statements about his relationship with Epstein.

According to the FCA, Staley assured the regulator in 2018 that he did not have a “close relationship” with Epstein.

But emails came to light in which Staley referred to the disgraced billionaire as one of his “deepest” and “most cherished” friends.