In his typical flamboyant fashion, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor once downplayed a gathering he held at the Sandringham Estate, describing it as nothing more than “a straightforward shooting weekend.”

A black-and-white photograph reveals Andrew, who recently lost his royal titles, reclining across the laps of five elegantly dressed women.

The exact date and location of this image were initially undisclosed, but The Mail on Sunday has unveiled that it captures a lively scene from a party thrown by Andrew in early December 2000. The event was held at Sandringham for Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, and his then-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, in celebration of Maxwell’s 39th birthday.

Contrary to Andrew’s seemingly benign description of the event, reports have surfaced alleging that the gathering at Queen Elizabeth’s cherished Norfolk residence was anything but ordinary.

According to a revealing book, the aftermath of the party included the discovery of items such as lubricants, condoms, and drugs intended to enhance sexual experiences. Although Epstein, notorious for his involvement in the abuse of numerous women and girls, is not depicted in the image, he is believed to have been present at the event.

“The Windsor Legacy” by Robert Jobson suggests that bathrooms were found strewn with various items, including sex drugs known as poppers, painting a starkly different picture from Andrew’s portrayal of the event.

Citing a ‘palace source’, Mr Jobson writes: ‘Staff were stunned to discover the bathrooms were stocked not only with toiletries, but poppers, lube and condoms.’

Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles last month, is seen sprawling across the laps of five elegantly dressed women, while Ghislaine Maxwell lurks in the background

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor rides in the rain in Windsor Park earlier this week, having missed out on an invite to the King’s annual pre-Christmas bash for the extended family

The photograph shows Andrew – grinning for the camera in a bow tie and dinner jacket – with his face close to the naked legs of one of the women, all of whom have had their identities protected by US Government lawyers.

Maxwell, serving a 20-year jail term for helping Epstein abuse young girls, hovers in the background, alongside another woman whose identity is also protected.

The picture was taken in Sandringham’s opulent saloon, which is used as a sitting room when the Royal Family is in residence.

The family traditionally gathers in the room for afternoon tea on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day to watch the King’s Speech.

Royal author Andrew Lownie last night said the photograph of Andrew’s party in the heart of the 237-room Sandringham House would ‘horrify his family’. ‘It is one of their private inner sanctums and they will be appalled that Andrew treated it as just another place to have fun and show off to his friends.’

It is just one in a series of extraordinary images exposing the access to high society the former prince granted Epstein and Maxwell.

In one photo, released on Friday by the US Department of Justice, Epstein and Maxwell are seen with Andrew in the Royal Box at Ascot. They were personal guests of Andrew on June 22, 2000, at Ladies’ Day, which Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother also attended. Andrew later described Epstein as his ‘plus one’ and not a guest of the Royal Family.

The released files also include a photograph of Epstein and Maxwell shooting on moorland at Balmoral. The former prince reportedly invited the couple to stay at the Scottish estate in 1999.

Epstein and Maxwell were part of the group which Andrew hosted at Sandringham Estate in 2000 in what the former prince described as ‘a straightforward shooting weekend’

An undated photo released by the US Department of Justice shows Epstein and Maxwell together

Andrew has been dogged by allegations that he sexually assaulted then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein. He has repeatedly and vehemently denied all accusations.

As well as losing his titles, he will move out of Royal Lodge, a 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park, and instead live in a property in a remote corner of the Sandringham estate early in the New Year.

Other photos in the files show Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife, with a woman on a sofa and with another in the street. Both women’s identities have been redacted.

In September, the MoS revealed an email Ms Ferguson sent Epstein just weeks after publicly disowning him, calling him a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’.

Maxwell, 63, is shown in one picture posing in a supercar wearing a bath robe which she has purposely allowed to ‘fall open’ to reveal her private parts.

She is also pictured outside No10 and with former President Bill Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey inside Winston Churchill’s war rooms in London. It is believed the visit took place in October 2002 when Mr Clinton gave a speech to the Labour Party conference.

The vast tranche of images and documents – which includes FBI files and new Grand Jury testimony released last night – contains digital albums of Epstein with world leaders and royalty, as well as hundreds of pictures of nude girls. One album is labelled: ‘Clinton, Morocco King Wedding, St Tropez, Nudes.’

There are scores of photographs taken inside Epstein’s £60million Manhattan home, including a lavish massage room which had a giant portrait of a naked woman on one wall with shelves containing lubricants, oil and towels.

A photograph of Ghislaine Maxwell outside Number 10 Downing Street features in the trove of images released this week

Sarah Ferguson sits on a sofa in an undated photograph released by the US Department of Justice

FBI files reveal that one girl, who was 14 when Epstein raped her at the New York mansion, said the house looked like ‘something from out of Beauty And The Beast’. There are also pictures of sex toys, fancy dress ‘nurse uniforms’ and a sexually-explicit ‘soap on a rope’.

Books including ‘Massage for Dummies’ are placed on tables next to framed pictures of Epstein with his powerful friends. A mannequin dressed in a wedding gown ‘hangs’ from the foyer ceiling.

In another photo, Epstein is wearing just a towel. A small foot, which appears to belong to a child as young as four or five, pokes into the frame.

Newly released FBI testimony reveals the paedophile abused girls as young as 12.

One FBI note told how Epstein would check the ages of his victims to make sure they were underage. An officer wrote: ‘[Redacted name] witnessed him asking for ID to girl. Wanted to make sure under 18 [because] he wasn’t believing them [because redacted name] messed up by bringing more older girls.’

Other images show young girls naked on Epstein’s private Caribbean island, dubbed ‘Paedo Island’, and schoolgirls dressed in cheerleader outfits on his birthday.

A lawyer for one of the victims said: ‘How can anyone who hung out with Epstein still say they didn’t know what was going on? He made no attempt to hide his depravity.’