London: Buckingham Palace on Saturday denied "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors" by Britain's Prince Andrew, after he was named in US court papers for allegedly having sexual relations with a girl.
A woman named him in documents she filed in a Florida court over how prosecutors handled a case against financier Jeffrey Epstein, a friend of the prince. She claims that between 1999 and 2002 she was forced by Epstein to have sex with the prince when she was a minor.
In 2008, Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a single Florida state charge of soliciting prostitution. He remains a registered sex offender.
Andrew, 54, is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and fifth in line to the British throne. He was Britain's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for 10 years until 2011.
The palace said it would not comment in detail on the legal proceedings.
But a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said, "This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party.
"As such we would not comment on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue," she said.
The woman says she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein.
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