Is Prince Andrew set for another legal battle in the new year? Duke is receiving increased attention for his ties to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein after a US judge ruled that documents from a prosecutor who alleged the royal family groped her breasts must be made public

Prince Andrew's links to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein will come under further scrutiny with the release of hundreds of files from a defamation case in the new year.

US judge Loretta Preska has ruled that documents relating to more than 170 people who were associates, friends or victims of the multi-millionaire sex offender must be made public. They are currently only called J.Doe.

They include 40 pieces of evidence from Johanna Sjoberg, who claims Prince Andrew touched her breast in 2001 while she sat on a couch in the American billionaire's Manhattan apartment.

Buckingham Palace previously said the allegations were “categorically false.”

The documents are part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who provided Epstein with underage girls.

The released documents relate to Joanna Sjoberg, who claims Prince Andrew touched her breast while she sat on a couch in Epstein's Manhattan apartment in 2001.

Virginia Giuffre went to X last night to applaud the judge's decision

Ms. Giuffre wrote on

'There will be a lot of nervous people over Christmas and New Year, 170 to be precise, who's on the naughty list? This would (not) be possible without the Honorable Judge Preska.”

The people who will be named in the documents have fourteen days to appeal the judge's decision. This means they can be released in early January.

Ms. Giuffre settled her civil claim against Maxwell, but media representatives have since argued that documents sealed as part of the case should be made public.

Judge Preska ordered that some individuals be named because they had already given interviews to the media.

According to Ms Sjoberg, she was recruited by Maxwell into Epstein's web and told him he needed “three orgasms a day”.

The 42-year-old hairdresser who lives near Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein had a now-demolished home, has confirmed key parts of Ms Roberts' claims.

In statements she has described how in March 2001, when she was 21, she was summoned to Epstein's mansion in New York, where she discovered that “Prince Andrew was there and a few other girls my age”, including Ms Roberts.

“Andrew was very charming,” she said. 'She (Maxwell) came with a present for him: a latex doll of his from Spitting Image.'

Ms Sjoberg added that Andrew found the doll “funny because it was him.”

She said in a statement: 'I remember someone suggested a photo and told us to sit on the sofa. And so Virginia (Roberts) and Andrew sat down on the couch and placed the doll on her lap.

“And so I sat down on Andrew's lap, I believe of my own volition, and they took the doll's hands and put them on Virginia's chest, and so Andrew put his on mine.”

It all happened in “joke” and “everyone laughed,” Ms. Sjoberg said. “Ghislaine… had a very dirty sense of humor.”

Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts, aged 17, and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001 at Ghislaine Maxwell's mansion in London

Andrew withdrew from public life after the furor over his friendship with Epstein and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case against Ms. Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

The Duke was ousted from the working monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.

In January 2022, prior to his legal settlement, his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, stripped Andrew of all his honorary military positions, including colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

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

The death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell has been jailed since July 2020, despite numerous attempts by her defense counsel to have her released on bail.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison last June in federal court in the Southern District of New York.

The socialite indicated shortly after her conviction that she wanted to appeal, with her lawyers claiming that the victims had “faded, distorted and motivated memories.”

Her appeal is currently due to be heard in November next year.

It comes as legal documents emerged as part of a separate court case in London, Andrew once suggested invited an alleged fraudster and a convicted arms smuggler to St James's Palace.

The Duke of York, along with the Duchess of York and their daughters, received around £1.4 million from former Goldman Sachs banker Selman Turk.

Turk, 37, is accused of stealing £40 million from Turkish millionaire Nebahat Evyap Ibsilen, who hired him to transfer her assets out of Turkey, where her MP is a political prisoner.

Prince Andrew was spotted riding his horse around the grounds of Windsor Castle earlier this month

The 78-year-old claimed he tricked her into making a £750,000 payment to the Duke, who he claimed helped get her a British passport. Last month, the Duke and Duchess reached a settlement with the millionaire.

According to The TelegraphAndrew was introduced to Turk in 2019 by Tarek Kaituni, a Libyan arms smuggler.

And documents submitted to the High Court in the closing stages of the case show that Prince Andrew is said to have invited Turk and Kaituni to one of London's oldest palaces, The Telegraph reported.

Ms Isbilen is suing Turk and several offshore companies over the missing money and has also filed contempt proceedings over an alleged breach of a court order.

It is believed that The Duke, Turk and Kaituni got together for a dinner for potential investors at Turk's home in South Kensington in December 2019.

Two months later, the gunrunner and alleged fraudster were photographed together at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

During the case, Ms Isbilen claimed that Turk had deceived her and that she had made a £750,000 payment to the Duke when she was told he had helped obtain a passport for her.

This was handed over just over a week after Turk won an award for a business idea from Pitch@Palace, an initiative held at St James's Palace.

Turk told the court the payment was a 'gift' to the duke for his daughter's wedding and had nothing to do with it.

Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a pheasant hunt in Sandringham on December 8, 2000

Prince Andrew paid back the money in March 2021, after Ms Isbilen's lawyers wrote to him about Turk but provided no explanation.

Further payments were made to the Duke and his family, totaling £350,000 to the Duke, £225,000 to the Duchess and £25,000 to Princess Eugenie.

Eugenie said last year that the money was given to her by an “old family friend” to help with the costs of a surprise party for her mother.

According to The Telegraph, the money was paid through the British company Alphabet Capital.

The Duchess of York also received payments of £225,000, while Princess Eugenie received £25,000.

Neither the Duke nor the Duchess are accused of wrongdoing.

Turk denies she dishonestly 'embezzled' the money and says Ms Isbilen decided to give Prince Andrew the money 'on her own initiative'.

He denies all allegations made against him.

A ruling in the London contempt case is expected in the coming weeks.