Royal family under pressure over Prince Andrew's link to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said leaked emails suggesting Andrew passed Giuffre's date of birth and confidential US social security number to his close protection officer were "deeply concerning".

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A spokesperson for the Metropolitan police said: "We are aware of media reporting and are actively looking into the claims made."

The developing scandal forced Andrew to relinquish some of his royal titles on Friday, including Duke of York, having already lost the use of his HRH title after ceasing to be a "working royal".

He retains the dukedom, which would take an act of parliament to remove, while his status as a prince could only be removed if a letters patent were issued by the king. Andrew has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, and the FBI formally ended its investigation into his links to Epstein in July.

But MPs and campaigners have called for further action including a Metropolitan police investigation into Andrew's links to Epstein and an act of parliament to formally strip the prince of his titles.

Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, said she was writing to ministers this week to back her bill giving the king or a parliamentary committee the power to formally remove Andrew's titles.

"Every time this comes up, it clearly must be really traumatising for the victims and survivors, so it's really important that this matter is dealt with ... There are mechanisms which need to be put in place in order to remove a title," she said.