PRINCE ANDREW’s attempt to defend himself on TV against claims that he had sex with a girl who was sexually exploited as a child by late US financier Jeffrey Epstein was likened to a “plane crashing into an oil tanker.”

Royal Central website editor Charlie Proctor also said that the BBC Newsnight interview was “a nuclear explosion level [of] bad.”

Prince Andrew has been accused by Virginia Giuffre of having had sex with her three times after she had been “procured” by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

In the interview, Prince Andrew claimed he had “no recollection” of meeting her when she was 17.

He added that he had “absolutely no memory” of a photo of the pair — with his arm around her hip and Epstein’s companion Ghislane Maxwell in the background — being taken.

He added that their alleged introduction at Tramp nightclub in 2001 never happened because he had taken his daughter to Pizza Express in Woking.

Prince Andrew said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, saying he benefited from opportunities Epstein’s network brought him.

He said he visited him in New York in 2010 to break off the friendship after Epstein was released from prison for prostituting minors, saying it would have been “chicken” to do so over the phone.

The BBC’s Emily Maitlis said he was guest of honour at Epstein’s four-day party and dinner to “celebrate” his release.

Epstein was reported in August to have “committed suicide” in jail while facing sex-trafficking charges. He was linked to powerful US politicians including President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton.