The Duke of York has defended his reputation during a “no holds barred” television interview in which he speaks in detail for the first time about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew made the decision to speak on the record about his friendship with convicted paedophile Epstein, and to deny allegations made by a woman that she was forced into a sexual encounter with the duke.

Virginia Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, claims she was made to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 – an allegation he denies.

She is one of 16 women who says she was abused by Epstein, and also named Andrew in previous court papers.

Duke of York
Andrew gave an in-depth interview with the BBC’s Newsnight (Mark Harrison/BBC/PA)

In the BBC Newsnight interview by presenter Emily Maitlis, Andrew said that with “hindsight” his decision to stay at Epstein’s house was “definitely the wrong thing to do”, and that his judgement was “probably coloured” at the time.

When it was pointed out during the interview that he was staying at the house of a “convicted sex offender”, Andrew said: “It was a convenient place to stay… There is… I have gone through this in my mind so many times.

“At the end of the day, with the benefit of all the hindsight one can have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do.

“But at the time I felt it was the honourable and right thing to do.

“And I admit fully that my judgement was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable, but that is just the way it is.”