Royalist press turn the screws on Prince Andrew

Buckingham Palace declined to comment overnight on a report that Prince Andrew's friend Jeffrey Epstein once made use of a RAF fighter base to land his Gulfstream jet just 20 miles from Sandringham, the royal holiday home in Norfolk, where he stayed as Andrew's guest.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the arrangement by which the American hedge-funder - and recently convicted paedophile - was cleared for landing at RAF Marham remains a mystery.

A commercial pilot told the paper the clearance was "unusual" - because Marham is the RAF's biggest front-line base in Britain, home to four Tornado squadrons.

Flight logs obtained by the Telegraph show the visit happened back in December 2000. Epstein was travelling with his friend Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, and others. He and Maxwell both stayed at Sandringham.

The Telegraph's story is slightly spoiled by a Ministry of Defence spokesman who insists that civil aircraft are "routinely granted permission" to land at RAF bases. Precise figures were not readily available.

The logs seen by the Telegraph also show that Andrew flew on Epstein's Gulfstream to Florida earlier in 2000. There are also entries, the paper claims, showing that Virginia Roberts often accompanied Epstein on his travels.

Roberts is the young woman who recently claimed to have been Epstein's "sex slave" for four years from the age of 15. She was introduced to Epstein by Ghislaine Maxwell and was once photographed with Prince Andrew's hand around her waist during a trip to London.

The story of the flight logs indicates just how strongly the normally pro-royal press is coming down on Andrew - an odd situation given that the same papers are busy making plans for special commemorative issues to mark the upcoming royal wedding.

Not to be fobbed off by the MoD spokesman, the Telegraph, which along with the Radio Times has long been considered a favourite read at the Queen's breakfast table, quotes Graham Smith of the campaign group Republic.

He says the emergence of the flight logs "raise more questions and increase the need for a proper investigation into Andrew's various relationships".

Smith goes on: "Given the nature of the allegations against him I think it's fair to ask if the visit to Sandringham, for example, was all above board."

Another royalist paper, the Daily Mail, claims the Queen is so worried about the Andrew-Epstein saga that she summoned her favourite son to attend a meeting at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

The paper claims the Queen believes Andrew does a good job as trade ambassador but that there is a growing feeling "that his grip on the unpaid role is becoming increasingly tenuous". A senior Palace source said the Queen's summons was "extremely unusual".

It is becoming increasingly apparent that both the press and the Palace want this matter resolved by the time William and Kate walk down the aisle and normal service is resumed. ·