A puppet of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, which Virginia Giuffre claimed was used to touch her, appears in the background of a photograph disclosed in the Epstein Files. The likeness of the former prince appears placed on a sofa in the background of a photograph of disgraced sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's home in New York.

Ms Giuffre had alleged Andrew used the puppet to touch her, writing in her book, Nobody's Girl: "When Andrew cupped my breast with a doll made in his image, I only giggled away". Andrew has also been accused of using the puppet to fondle Johanna Sjoberg, who was then aged 21, in Epstein's study. In a legal deposition from 2016, she said: "I sat on Andrew’s lap, and they took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast, and so Andrew put his on mine."

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly and strenuously denied any wrongdoing. In 2022, he settled a US civil lawsuit brought by Ms Giuffre.

The puppet photo is one of 300,000 documents released on Friday (December 19) by the US Justice Department. The initial disclosures offer scant fresh insight into Epstein’s crimes or the decisions which saw him avoid serious legal action for years.

Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records which could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.

The releases so far have been mostly images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the US Virgin Islands, along with some photos of celebrities and politicians, including former US President Bill Clinton and US President Donald Trump.

Both Mr Clinton and Mr Trump have been associated with Epstein, but they have since disowned their friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.

Another photo of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor reclining across the legs of five women with his head near one woman's lap also surfaced in the document dump.

In that undated image, which is a photograph of a picture in a photo frame, convicted sex trafficker Maxwell peers down and smiles at the former Duke of York, who is himself smiling with his eyes closed.

The faces of six women have been redacted with black squares, and the photo appears to have been taken in front of a grand fireplace.

Epstein and Maxwell are also seen in another undated photograph, pictured with Andrew in the royal box at Ascot.

Andrew stepped down from royal duties in 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview, but the publication of Ms Giuffre's posthumous memoir and the US Government's release of documents from Epstein's estate brought more scrutiny over his relationship with the financier.

It led to King Charles officially stripping his disgraced brother of both his HRH style and his prince title.

US politicians have criticised him for his "silence" after he missed a deadline last month to respond to their request to sit for an interview about Epstein.

Two photos of Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson with unidentified females were also included in the document dump.

The Department of Justice was legally obliged to make all files related to the investigation into Epstein public by midnight on Friday following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The paedophile financier was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.