An image featuring Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor reclining across the laps of five women, with Ghislaine Maxwell present, has surfaced amid the release of the Epstein files.

The US Department of Justice made public documents tied to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, revealing numerous photographs among the files.

In one particular image, the former prince, dressed in a black suit with a bow tie, is captured smiling as he lounges across the five women, his face positioned close to one woman’s exposed legs.

The photograph, which is actually of a framed picture, also includes Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker, who is seen smiling down at the former duke. She stands beside another woman whose identity, like those of the women seated on the sofa, remains concealed.

Details regarding the timing and location of the photo remain unknown, as the background for many of the released images is absent.

Andrew has consistently faced allegations of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre when she was 17, after she was trafficked by Epstein. He has steadfastly denied these claims.

He 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 the King 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.

A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across a row of women in a photo during a black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell has been released as part of the Epstein files

Bill Clinton was seen frolicking in a swimming pool with Ghislaine Maxwell in bombshell images from the latest Epstein files release

Clinton and Sir Mick Jagger are pictured with a redacted woman 

Epstein was also seen cosying up to the former president in the image release on Friday 

Rock legend Sir Mick was pictured enjoying a dinner, sitting in between Clinton and Epstein 

Other pictures released on Friday also show Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, posing for a photograph with someone on the street and talking to a woman while sitting on a sofa.

In both images, she appears to be wearing the same outfit, although it is unclear if the photographs were taken on the same day. 

Former president Bill Clinton also appeared numerous times in files, with one image showing him relaxing in a hot tub. In another, he takes a dip with Maxwell in a swimming pool. 

Other high-profile names, including Michael Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Diana Ross, Sir Mick Jagger and Sir Richard Branson are also pictured in the files. 

The trove of documents, including court records, footage and images, was uploaded on Friday night to the US Department of Justice website, which held users in a queue as it experienced an ‘extremely high volume of search requests’.

The data dump came after US deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said ‘several hundred thousand’ documents from the so-called ‘Epstein files’ would be released ahead of a legal deadline but the need to protect the sex offender’s victims meant thousands more would be released over the coming weeks.

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

The 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.

Trump, once a close friend of Epstein, fought for months to prevent the release of the records related to the investigation of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

He signed the legislation last month to ensure the release of the files, despite previously resisting disclosure and claiming the issue was a ‘Democrat hoax’.

Speaking ahead of the release, Mr Blanche told Fox News: ‘I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today.

‘And those documents will come in all different forms, photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into Mr Epstein.’

A photograph of Maxwell pictured outside Number 10 Downing Street features in the dump

Epstein is seen with Michael Jackson in an undated photograph

Clinton and Jackson smile alongside Diana Ross in an undated image from Friday’s release

Explaining why there may be a delay in releasing all the files, Mr Blanche told the broadcaster: ‘What we’re doing is we are looking at every single piece of paper that we are going to produce, making sure that every victim, their name, their identity, their story, to the extent it needs to be protected, is completely protected.

‘And so I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks.

‘So today, several hundred thousand and then over the next couple (of) weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.’