Prince Andrew has been accused of having had repeated sex with an underage girl procured to him by a convicted paedophile in documents submitted to a US court, it was reported yesterday.

In papers filed in Florida, a woman has alleged that she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York when she was 17, which is under the age of consent in the state.

The claim was made as part of a lawsuit in connection with a controversial friend of the prince, US billionaire investment banker Jeffrey Epstein, who was jailed in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

The woman making the allegations claims that between 1999 and 2002 she “was forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor” in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Mr Epstein.

Buckingham Palace has denied that the prince, 54, has committed any impropriety.