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Jeffrey Epstein reportedly used his friendship with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a "useful negotiating tool", a royal author has claimed. Epstein, who was convicted of child sex offences, was friends with the former Duke of York for a number of years, with the pair meeting up a number of times.

The friendship has caused a royal downfall for Andrew, who has always denied any accusations or wrongdoing associated with Epstein. While the friendship has therefore cost Andrew a lot, including his royal titles, reputation and Windsor mansion, one royal author said Epstein, on the other hand, benefited from the friendship when he was alive.

This is because Epstein reportedly used his friendship with Andrew as a "negotiating tool" to build business relationships.

He could offer them something unique when trying to secure deals, such as a shooting weekend at Sandringham with Andrew.

Speaking on The Royalist podcast with Tom Sykes, Andrew Lownie said: "I think for Epstein, Andrew was very, very helpful.

"You know, the kudos of being able to have pictures of him sitting on the throne at Buckingham Palace or going up to Sandringham.

"It was a useful negotiating tool with other people, you know 'I can arrange a shooting weekend up in Sandringham'. He was always leveraging everything."

While Andrew claimed his friendship with Epstein was over in 2010 during an interview with BBC Newsnight, this was proved otherwise by the Epstein Files after email correspondence was found between Epstein and the former duke in 2011.

The email saw Andrew tell Epstein to "keep in close touch".

Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing and the accusations surrounding his previous friendship with Epstein.