- The judge ruled that documents from people associated with Epstein will be made public
- A source said people “close to Andrew” are concerned about his mental well-being.
Prince Andrew is said to be 'utterly anguished' as he braces for the scandal over his links to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein to flare up again in the new year.
The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Duke of York's name will appear alongside those of dozens of Epstein's powerful friends – some of whom have not previously been publicly identified – when a series of court documents are published.
The prospect of being under intense scrutiny again over his friendship with Epstein is said to have plunged Andrew into deep despair ahead of Christmas, which he is expected to spend at Sandringham with his brother King Charles and other Royals.
“Andrew's name is in there,” the source said. 'He is beside himself over this latest development and everyone around him is concerned for his mental well-being.
'He is at his wits' end, completely tormented. He's going into his second Christmas without his mother and now the new year starts and his name is being dragged through the mud again.'
The documents are part of a US defamation case that Andrews' accuser Virginia Roberts has brought against Ghislaine Maxwell
The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Duke of York's name will appear alongside those of dozens of Epstein's powerful friends
US Judge Loretta Preska ruled last week that documents relating to more than 170 people linked to Epstein should be made public in early January.
US Judge Loretta Preska ruled last week that documents relating to more than 170 people who were associates, friends or victims of multi-millionaire sex offender Epstein must be made public in early January.
The documents are part of a US defamation case brought by Andrew's accuser Virginia Roberts in 2015 against Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who provided Epstein with underage girls.
While the case was settled out of court two years later, The Miami Herald successfully fought to have the papers made public.
The first set of documents was released in 2019, less than 48 hours before Epstein hanged himself in a New York jail while being held on child sex trafficking charges.
The MoS has been told that other names that will be made public in the new documents include Wall Street bankers, business leaders and major politicians and academics.
Ms Roberts claimed she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 – allegations that Andrew has vehemently and consistently denied. A civil lawsuit she filed in the US was settled out of court, without Andrew admitting to her wrongdoing.
A source said: 'Every time Andrew hopes to put his association with Epstein in the past, it flares up again.
“It doesn't matter that he was never charged, let alone convicted, of any wrongdoing; his name keeps getting dragged through the mud.
'This will hang over his head all Christmas. You have to wonder when it will ever end.”
Epstein was accused of sexually assaulting numerous teenage girls, some as young as 14, at his homes in New York and Florida and on his private Caribbean island.
Judge Preska gave those named in the documents 14 days to formally object to the release of their names.
Only a handful will remain secret – many of whom are minors or possible victims.
Roberts, 40, who now lives in Australia and goes by her married name Giuffre, celebrated the judge's ruling on social media last week, saying: 'There will be a lot of nervous people over Christmas and New Year, 170 to be precise. who's on the naughty list?'
She called Preska “a seeker of truth” and “a maker of justice.”