Prince Andrew is appalled by sex abuse claims about his ex-friend Jeffrey Epstein, Buckingham Palace has said.
It comes after the Mail on Sunday published footage that claimed to show the Duke of York inside the financier's Manhattan mansion in 2010 - two years after Epstein's first conviction.
Epstein, 66, took his own life in a jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York.
He previously socialised with Prince Andrew and President Donald Trump.
Who was Jeffrey Epstein? A Buckingham Palace statement said: "The Duke of York has been appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes.
"His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is abhorrent."
The Duke of York has said he "let the side down" by staying at the home of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Answering questions about his links to Epstein for the first time, Prince Andrew said his stay was not "becoming of a member of the Royal Family".
The prince spoke to BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis in an interview recorded at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.
It will be broadcast on BBC Two at 21:00 GMT on Saturday.
Prince Andrew has been facing questions for several months over his ties to Epstein, a 66-year-old American financier who took his own life while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
In 2010, the prince was photographed walking with Epstein in New York's Central Park - two years after Epstein's first conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Footage published by the Mail on Sunday showed the prince in Epstein's Manhattan mansion around the same time.
Addressing his decision to stay with Epstein following the American's first conviction, Prince Andrew said: "That's the bit that… as it were, I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the Royal Family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that."
In 2015, Prince Andrew was named in court papers as part of a US civil case against Epstein.
One of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Roberts - now Virginia Giuffre - said she was forced to have sex with the prince three times between 1999 - when she was 17 - and 2002, in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein.
At the time she was under-age according to Florida state law.
In the BBC interview, Emily Maitlis asks the prince about Ms Giuffre's claims that in 2001, she had dined with him, danced with him at a nightclub, and went on to have sex with him at the house of a friend of the prince in Belgravia, central London.
The prince replied: "I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever."
When asked once more whether he remembered meeting Ms Giuffre, the prince said: "No."
Never-before-seen video footage showing a sweaty Prince Andrew being openly affectionate with a bevy of young women while partying in the late 2000s has been unearthed - just hours after his 'car crash' interview with the BBC.
The Prince insisted in his sit-down with Emily Maitlis that he did not sweat or indulge in public displays of affection with women while defending himself against claims he slept with Jeffrey Epstein's sex slave Virginia Roberts.
He seemed to cast doubts on the authenticity of a photo which shows him with his arm around Miss Roberts' waist.
However, the newly-discovered footage, published exclusively by the MailOnline, shows Andrew looking dishevelled and sweaty as he wanders around several raucous parties on the French Riviera.
Photos also show him embracing a string of beautiful women publicly, appearing not to care about the cameras tracking his every move.
Filmed during the Prince's 'mid-life crisis' period, the footage appears to show the Duke of York living up to his controversial 'Randy Andy' nickname.
Prince Andrew is facing mounting political pressure to testify under oath to US investigators about his friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Amid a huge backlash over his “car crash” BBC interview, a series of top UK politicians declared it time for the 59-year-old British royal to come clean to the FBI.
“I hope very much he will,” Barry Gardiner, the UK’s shadow trade secretary for the opposition party, told the Times of London on Monday.
“I believe that if this interview was intended to be open and transparent, then it should be focused on the victims, it should be focused on justice for those victims of Jeffrey Epstein. And anything that Prince Andrew can do in order to further that by saying what he knows of the time he spent with his former friend can only be the right thing to do.”
Jack Dromey, the shadow pensions minister, said the Duke of York “showed no empathy whatsoever for the victims of Epstein” and “should be utterly ashamed of himself.”
“I thought it was utterly disgraceful and to be absolutely frank, he is a disgrace,” the politician told BBC radio, according to the Times.
There was careful briefing on how Andrew reportedly spoke to the Queen at a church service on Sunday, describing the interview as a “great success.” To demonstrate her nonchalance, she kept calm and carried on with a horseback ride in Windsor Great Park.
However one person who was less likely to accept Andrew’s positive spin over the interview was Andrew’s fraternal foe Prince Charles, who touched down Monday morning in New Zealand for a royal tour which looks set to be completely overshadowed by the controversy over Andrew.
“Charles’ jealous streak is well known,” one friend of the family told The Daily Beast, “I can’t imagine he’ll be anything less than absolutely bloody furious about this.”
“Charles does not want to inherit a crown that has been tarnished, scratched, and dented by a fresh round of scandals," said royal writer Christopher Andersen, author of the best-selling Diana’s Boys.
“Once he is king, he will almost certainly read Andrew the riot act, if he hasn’t already, strip him of many of his duties and responsibilities, and put him under the royal equivalent of might loosely be described as house arrest—a life of unlimited luxury and pomp, of course, but under the reign of Charles III, the Duke of York’s freedom to pursue his personal appetites will be significantly curtailed.”