Andrew, allegedly Six explosive claims made in new Duke of York biography

A new biography claims startling insight into the private lives of the Duke of York and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

- Caroline Davies

Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by the historian Andrew Lownie dives into the prince's ill-advised friendship with the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, his alleged relationships with women and his mysterious finances. The duke's representatives were contacted for comment.

Extracts have been serialised in the Daily Mail and address the following questions:

When did Andrew first meet Jeffrey Epstein?

Lownie states that, while Andrew claimed to have met Epstein in 1999, "he and his ex-wife Sarah had known the financier for almost a decade by then". Lownie writes that Andrew "was easy prey for a rattlesnake like Epstein", adding that: "Epstein played Andrew. The prince was a useful idiot who gave him respectability, access to political leaders and business opportunities. He found him easy to exploit." Lownie quotes the US businessman Steven Hoffenberg, a convicted fraudster said to be Epstein's "mentor", that Andrew was his "Super Bowl trophy".

Did Epstein pass secrets about Andrew to other countries?