The Duke of York has offered on “three occasions” to be a witness in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, according to a statement from Andrew’s lawyers.

It comes after a US prosecutor claimed the duke had provided “zero cooperation” with FBI officials and reports emerged that the US had made a mutual legal assistance request to the UK to try and obtain his testimony.

Here is a timeline of the duke’s relationship with Epstein.

– 1990s

Andrew told BBC Newsnight he first met the since-disgraced financier through “his girlfriend back in 1999”.

But in March 2011, the duke’s then-private secretary Alastair Watson, who spent nine years in the role, wrote to The Times newspaper saying Andrew met Epstein in the “early 1990s”.

Andrew later says he sees Epstein “infrequently”, adding “probably no more than only once or twice a year”.

– 2000

Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell are seen on holiday with Epstein at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Epstein and Ms Maxwell attend a party at Windsor Castle hosted by the Queen to mark Andrew’s 40th birthday, the Princess Royal’s 50th, the Queen Mother’s 100th and Princess Margaret’s 70th.

– 2001

Virginia Roberts, also known as Virginia Giuffre, claims to have had sex with Andrew “three times, including one orgy”, with the first encounter allegedly taking place in Ms Maxwell’s London townhouse.

Ms Roberts claims to have had sex with Andrew on two more occasions, at Epstein’s New York home and at an “orgy” on his private island in the Caribbean.

– 2008

Epstein admits prostituting minors and is sentenced to 18 months in prison.

– 2010

Epstein is released from jail.

Andrew is photographed with the disgraced Epstein in New York’s Central Park.

Footage emerges years later, reportedly shot on December 6 2010, showing him inside Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, from where he is seen looking out from a large door of the property waving a woman goodbye after Epstein leaves to get into a chauffeur-driven car.

– 2011

The duke quits his role as UK trade envoy after the fallout from the Central Park photos.

– 2015

Buckingham Palace denies Andrew has committed any impropriety after he is named in US court documents related to Epstein.

A woman, later named in reports as Ms Roberts, alleges in papers filed in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, which is under the age of consent in the state.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Andrew, in his first public engagement since he was embroiled in the allegations, responds, saying: “Firstly I think I must, and want, for the record, to refer to the events that have taken place in the last few weeks.

“I just wish to reiterate, and to reaffirm, the statements that have already been made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace.”

In April the claims against Andrew are struck from US civil court records following a federal judge’s ruling.

– 2019

Newly released legal documents show that Johanna Sjoberg, another alleged Epstein victim, claimed Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaire’s Manhattan apartment in 2001.

Buckingham Palace said the allegations are “categorically untrue”.

Epstein is found dead in his jail cell on August 10, having killed himself after being charged with sex trafficking.

Later that month a pilot on Epstein’s private jet claims Andrew was a passenger on past flights with the financier and Ms Roberts.

The Sun newspaper reported that David Rodgers said in evidence released in August that Epstein, Andrew and the-then 17-year-old travelled to the US Virgin Islands on April 11 2001.

Buckingham Palace describes the evidence statement as having “a number of inconsistencies” and said that Andrew was on a different continent in some cases.

Following Epstein’s death, a statement from the palace says that Andrew is “appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes”.

Breaking his silence on the issue for the first time since 2015, Andrew then releases a statement on August 24 saying: “At no stage during the limited time I spent with him (Epstein) did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.”

In November, BBC Newsnight reveals the duke has spoken about his relationship with Epstein in a “no holds barred” interview.

Presenter Emily Maitlis wrote on Twitter that it was a “no questions vetted” exchange.

In the interview the duke said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting Ms Roberts and added he could not have had sex with her in March 2001 because he was at Pizza Express with daughter Beatrice on the day in question.

He added he “did not regret” his friendship with the sex offender but admitted he should not have gone to see him in New York in 2010 to break off their friendship.

A letter from Mr Watson to The Times in 2011 resurfaces suggesting Andrew met Epstein “in the early 1990s” rather than 1999 as he has previously stated.

Four days after the interview, the Duke of York released a statement confirming he was “stepping back from public duties for the foreseeable future” with permission from The Queen.

Andrew also said he “deeply sympathised” with all of Epstein’s victims and added he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required”.

Four days later, the duke issues a statement saying he is stepping back from public life, with the Queen’s approval, as lawyers for Epstein’s victims say they plan to subpoena Andrew to be questioned under oath.

It comes after businesses, charities and universities begin to cut ties with the duke following the “car crash” interview.

In December, he joins his mother and senior royals for a private Christmas Day service at church in Sandringham but misses the traditional public event where crowds line up to get a glimpse of the royals arriving and leaving.

– 2020

On January 19, Andrew makes a rare public appearance by joining his mother at church in Sandringham, the first time they have been pictured together since the week after his Newsnight interview.

The fallout of the Epstein scandal returns on January 27 when US prosecutor Geoffrey Berman tells reporters in New York that the FBI has reached out to the duke in connection with the probe, adding Andrew has “provided zero cooperation”.

Mr Berman gives another update in March, telling reporters the duke had “completely shut the door” on cooperating with investigators.

Ms Roberts appears in a Netflix documentary on Epstein released on May 27, and declares “the monsters are still out there”. In the same documentary, a former employee of Epstein, Steve Scully, alleges Andrew and Ms Giuffre were “engaged in foreplay” in the pool on the financier’s private island in the Caribbean.

On June 8, The Sun newspaper and US broadcasters report the US Department of Justice has made a mutual legal assistance request to the Home Office in an attempt to compel Andrew to give testimony.

The reports prompted the duke to hit back, in a statement from his lawyers, saying he had offered help three times this year and accusing the DOJ of breaching its own confidentiality rules.