Buckingham Palace has issued a second denial that the Duke of York had sexual contact with a woman who claims she was forced to have under-age sex with him, branding the allegations "false and without any foundation".
It comes after two Sunday newspapers published details of interviews with American Virginia Roberts, who reportedly named Prince Andrew in US court documents related to a convicted paedophile.
The palace has already stated that "any suggestion of impropriety with under-age minors" by the Duke was "categorically untrue''.
The Mail on Sunday's headline read 'Andrew: No, I did not have sex with that girl'
The Sunday Mirror also published claims from the woman alongside a palace denial
Roberts' claims are not new but have resurface as part of a lawsuit in connection with American billionaire and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein - a former friend of Prince Andrew.
The Mail On Sunday publishes new details from previous interviews with Virginia Roberts, the real name of 'Jane Doe 3’ referred to in American court papers.
Roberts says that between 1999 and 2002 she "was forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor" in London, New York - where she was under the age of consent - and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein.
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Roberts says she was being used as a "sex slave" and masseuse by Epstein. She claims to have met Andrew for the first time at a dinner with Epstein in 2001, at the house of Ghislaine Maxwell, a former associate of Epstein who has called claims made against her as "untrue" and "obvious lies".
Roberts claimed in The Mail On Sunday: "Andrew was making eye contact with me at every chance and concentrating on my plunging V-neck top. He didn’t ask me anything about myself. I just sat there with a smile frozen on my lips."
The Sunday Mirror reports that Roberts claims she later got into a bath with the Prince. “He started licking my toes, between my toes, the arches of my feet," she alleges. "And then we went into the bedroom and he proceeded to make love to me, so to speak. He wasn’t rude.
“But it wasn’t like love either,” she said. “It was more like, ‘I’m getting my business done’.”
Prince Andrew: the palace firmly denies the claims
Both papers report her claims that she had sex with Andrew and was paid just under £10,000 sleeping with the Prince and other sexual services for Epstein. The Mail states that there is no indication that Andrew knew she was paid.
On another occasion, Roberts claims in the Mail On Sunday that she was "placed" on Andrew's lap while another young woman sat on his other knee, and then took him upstairs for a massage in a "dungeon" where she claims she was "expected to have sex" with the prince.
In a third meeting, according to Roberts, Andrew watched while she posed with other topless girls for an "orgy"-style photoshoot. "We were topless and [Jeffrey Epstein] had us in sexual positions," Roberts told The Mail on Sunday.
"Then were told to assemble in a big cabana. When I walked in, Andrew and Jeffrey were seated in chairs. Jeffrey directed us with hand gestures. Jeffrey and the Prince were laughing. The next day, Andrew was gone."
In a second strongly-worded statement last night, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with (the woman).
"The allegations made are false and without any foundation."
The accusation is reportedly contained in a motion filed in a Florida court this week which is part of a lawsuit over how federal prosecutors handled the case of Epstein, who was jailed for 18 months in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Express reported that Andrew was due to fly back into Britain today to face the controversy following a ski trip in Switzerland.
A royal source confirmed the Duke had been away on a private holiday abroad.
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In the US court papers, Epstein is accused of repeatedly abusing the Roberts - now reportedly 29- on his private jet and luxury homes in New York, New Mexico, Florida and the US Virgin Islands.
The court document says: "Epstein also sexually trafficked the then-minor Jane Doe (a name used in US legal proceedings for people with anonymity), making her available for sex to politically-connected and financially-powerful people.
"Epstein's purposes in 'lending' Jane Doe (along with other young girls) to such powerful people were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information."
It adds: "For instance, one such powerful individual Epstein forced Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with was a member of the British royal family, Prince Andrew (aka Duke of York)."
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz - who is also named in the court papers - said the claims against him were part of a pattern of "made-up stories" by Roberts and her lawyers against prominent people.
Prof Dershowitz, who represented Epstein in the 2008 case, said that he would not rest until he had shown that the claims regarding his conduct were false and he advised the Duke to do everything in his power to clear his name.
"My only feeling is, if she's lied about me, which I know to an absolute certainty she has, she should not be believed about anyone else," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
"We know she's lied about other public figures including a former prime minister and others who she claims to have participated in sexual activities with, so I think it must be presumed all her allegations against Prince Andrew were false as well."
But in a statement released through her lawyers to The Guardian, Roberts hit back, saying: "These types of aggressive attacks on me are exactly the reason why sexual abuse victims typically remain silent and the reason why I did for a long time. That trend should change. I'm not going to be bullied back into silence."
The Duke has been dogged by accusations of a lack of judgment about his links with Epstein since 2011.
In June 2011 it was announced that he was stepping down from his role as the UK's roving business ambassador.
Andrew gave up the post following the intense scrutiny he faced over his relationships with Epstein and other controversial figures.
Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell has branded claims made against her as "untrue" and "obvious lies" after she was reportedly named in the US court papers by the woman.
Maxwell, the daughter of the late newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, has previously denied any wrongdoing and said in 2011 she would take legal action over some of the reporting of the story.
Her spokesman said: "The original allegations are not new and have been fully responded to and shown to be untrue.
"Each time the story is retold it changes, with new salacious details about public figures and world leaders.
"(The woman's) claims are obvious lies and should be treated as such and not publicised as news, as they are defamatory."