from bbc news.
The short statement from the palace has all the right words: appalled, abhorrent, deplores. There is little doubt that the prince wants the world to know how much he is horrified by what his former friend Epstein is accused of.

It was public knowledge that Prince Andrew had kept in contact with the billionaire sex offender after his 2008 conviction. The photo of the two men walking in Central Park in 2010 led to serious criticism of the prince's judgement.

But to see him inside Epstein's house, as young women come and go, looking for all the world as if he was a happy house-guest, is a disturbing sight. And strong though the palace statement may be it, it fails to answer the central question.

Just what was Prince Andrew doing visiting the house of a convicted paedophile?