Prince Andrew reported to police by anti-monarchy group as court papers renew sex assault claims

Prince Andrew has been reported to police after court documents linked him to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and referred to sexual assault claims.

Anti-monarchy activist group Republic said it had submitted a complaint to the Metropolitan Police.

“It’s time for the Met Police to act,” the organisation posted, calling on the force to reopen its investigations.

Millionaire financier Epstein, who socialised with royalty and celebrities, was accused of running a large network of underage girls for sex. While awaiting trial, he killed himself in his jail cell in 2019.

Forty-five court documents, containing hundreds of pages of interviews and transcripts, have been opened on a judge’s orders in a lawsuit against Epstein by one of his victims, Virginia Giuffre.

The suit was settled in 2017 but until now the documents had been sealed or redacted, concealing the identities of at least 100 victims, associates or friends of Epstein, each referred to as “J Doe”, along with a distinctive identifying number.

More names are due to be revealed in the coming days as the documents continue to be opened.

The Duke of York is mentioned more than 70 times in the papers, including allegations that he had an orgy with underage girls and touched a woman’s breast while posing with a puppet of himself.

Andrew, 63, who has strenuously denied the allegations, paid millions of pounds to settle a civil case out of court – with no admission of guilt – with Ms Giuffre, who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.

He was stripped of his military titles and asked to step down as a working royal in 2022 after the claims emerged.

The Metropolitan Police announced in October 2021 that they had closed their review of Ms Giuffre’s claims in the US civil action, stating that they would take no further action.

But Graham Smith, Republic’s chief executive, asked that the King make a public statement and take questions from the press on the matter.

He also called on MPs to debate the claims in Parliament.

“To date, there appears to have been no serious criminal investigation, no interview of the accused or other witnesses, and no clear justification for taking no action,” he said.

“How can we not expect a response from the government and head of state? At the time of the alleged offences, Andrew was a government trade ambassador and an active member of the royal family.

“They fudged and obfuscated for 11 years before taking any definitive action.”

Mr Smith added: “The question many people will be asking is simple: if the accused were anyone else, do we believe they wouldn’t have been investigated and prosecuted?”

In his role as a trade envoy from 2001 to 2011, the Duke earned the nickname "Airmiles Andy" for his use of private jets and helicopters, business deals abroad and his links with controversial dictators and businessmen.

The Met Police and representatives of the duke have been approached for a comment.