London, UK - Prince Andrew, King Charles III's brother, told Jeffrey Epstein "we are in this together" in an email three months after he said he had stopped contact with the pedophile financier, according to British reports.

The Sun On Sunday and Mail On Sunday report the email was sent on February 28, 2011 – the day after the well-known photograph of the Duke of York and Virginia Giuffre was published.

Andrew told BBC that he broke off his friendship with Epstein in December 2010.

According to the papers, the royal wrote in the message: "I'm just as concerned for you! Don't worry about me!"

"It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it."

"Otherwise keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon!!!!"

He reportedly signed off with "A, HRH The Duke of York, KG."

Andrew stepped away from his public role in 2019 amid the outrage over his friendship with convicted sex offender Epstein.

He later paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein as a teenager and who Andrew claimed never to have met.

Giuffre took her own life in April.

In January this year, a section of the email emerged in court documents, which at the time was reported to be from a "royal family member."

The claim was made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in court documents for a legal battle against former Barclays bank chief executive Jes Staley.

Staley was appealing against a finding by the watchdog that he gave a misleading account of the nature of his relationship with Epstein, and denies doing so.

In an amended statement of the case, the FCA said that features of the relationship between Epstein and Staley showed they were "close," and that emails sent between the pair were "inconsistent with a business relationship."

These included Epstein making "numerous introductions and recommendations for Mr Staley", including with the royal family member, and calling each other "family" in some emails.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges.

The death was ruled a suicide, but anger over the US Department of Justice's attempts to close the case has mushroomed into a full-blown scandal and enveloped President Donald Trump's administration in recent months.

Trump's past relationship with Epstein, as well as a steady drip of revelations about their closeness, has led parts of his base to turn on him.

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