A secret settlement dating from 2008 that Prince Andrew’s lawyer has said would protect him from a lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a 17-year-old girl should be made public, a judge has argued.

       The agreement was reached between Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre, who said the financier had sexually abused her and other women when they were underage.

       Attorney Andrew Brettler has argued that the deal also shields the prince from a separate claim brought against him by Ms Giuffre this year.

       In the August lawsuit, Ms Giuffre claimed that the prince abused her on multiple occasions in 2001. Andrew has denied all the allegations and said he never had sex with her.

       Mr Brettler has previously called the lawsuit “baseless”.

       US District Judge Loretta Preska said on Tuesday that unless there were any valid objections by Epstein's estate, the secret settlement deal should be made public on or before 22 December as part of the royal’s case.

       Judge Preska said the court questions "whether any proper purpose would be served by the continued secrecy of the document save, perhaps, the dollar amount the settlement provided it for”.

       Epstein was found dead in his cell in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial at a New York federal jail. His death was ruled a suicide.

       Additional reporting by agencies