New details reveal the friendship between Epstein and Prince Andrew dissolved after the Duchess of York referred to Epstein as a pedophile

Despite in the breach in their friendship, Prince Andrew was not able to permanently shake his association with Epstein. Friday, one of Epstein's most prominent accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, reiterated her accusations against Prince Andrew on-camera for NBC News.

Giuffre says the prince "was an abuser" and "a participant" in Epstein's sex trafficking operation. In the same New York Post article that jump-started the end of Epstein and Prince Andrew's friendship, it was reported that the financier's ex-girlfriend and alleged "madam," Ghislaine Maxwell, introduced the sex offender to the royal in the first place.

Maxwell, a British socialite, is also who Giuffre says recruited her into Epstein's operation, and who introduced her, in turn, to Prince Andrew. Giuffre has accused the prince of sexually assaulting her on three occasions, the first being at Maxwell's London residence.

Giuffre says Prince Andrew, Epstein, and Maxwell took her to the high-end club Tramp, where the prince bought her vodka. She says she was 17 at the time. The legal age of consent in the UK is 16, and the legal drinking age is 18. Giuffre says Maxwell directed her to have sex with the prince, who would also assault her later at Epstein's Manhattan residence, and on his private island in the US Virgin Islands.

Prince Andrew and Buckingham Palace have vehemently denied Giuffre's accusations. In his August statement through the palace, Prince Andrew also wrote that "I deplore the exploitation of any human being and would not condone, participate in, or encourage any such behavior."

Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of York didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

• Read more:
• Inside Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein's controversial 20-year friendship
• Prince Andrew flew on Jeffrey Epstein's 'Lolita express' private jet with a Russian model who was friends with Trump
• Prince Andrew says he stayed in several of Jeffrey Epstein's homes but only saw the disgraced financier 'once or twice a year'
• Prince Andrew reportedly defended Jeffrey Epstein after his 2008 sex crime conviction and called objections to their friendship 'puritan'