Britain's Prince Andrews accused of having sex with underage girl - case makes its way to US court

© Reuters

Britain's Prince Andrews

Prince Andrew, son of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, has been accused of having sexual relations with an underage girl in a case submitted to a US court on Friday.

The woman involved in the case, who has not been named, told a court in Florida she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew multiple times by disgraced US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

The statement is part of a wider case against Epstein, who is accused of "loaning out" the then-teenager to his friends and associates.

Epstein, 58, was jailed for 18 months in 2008 for seeking sexual relations with an underage girl.

However since his jailing, around 40 women, none of them identified, have accused Epstein of sexually abusing them.

Court documents seen by The Guardian say:

However, Buckingham Palace have hit back at the allegations, calling them

a Palace spokesperson said.

The information comes as MPs warn that there may not be enough resources available to conduct an official inquiry into historic child abuse cases in Britain during the 70s and 80s.

Last week, Labour MP John Mann said that police and social services may be unable to deal with "tens of thousands" of people likely to give evidence about child abuse, including elite "VIP" pedophile rings, consisting of high-ranking politicians.

The government's official inquiry has been put on hold after the departure of two of its heads due to with some ministers predicting that the panel could face a break up if a suitable leader was not selected soon.