Britain's Prince Andrew insisted on Saturday that "at no stage" during his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein did he "witness... any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest". The prince, Queen Elizabeth II's second son, is under heavy fire over his relationship with the disgraced US financier, and admitted in a statement on Saturday that "it was a mistake and an error to see him after his release in 2010".

"At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction." Epstein was found dead in his cell earlier this month, and the prince was once more drawn into the story after a video was released purporting to show him at the criminal's home in 2010.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019