A woman who has been rumoured to be in a relationship with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has denied being his girlfriend, and has insisted they are friends.

Aliba Bellingham has been spending time with the former prince at his new home Marsh Farm in Norfolk, where he has been exiled after being stripped of his royal titles in the wake of further revelations about his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

While it had been reported that he had begun a new relationship with Ms Bellingham, she has denied this and said they are “just acquaintances”.

The keen horse rider told the Mail on Sunday: “We hang out from time to time and talk about horses and dogs — that’s what we have in common. We get on well. He loves his horses.

“I’m not the sort of person to dwell on things in another person’s past. I think Andrew has found Norfolk to be a very welcoming area and that he’ll enjoy living here.

“But there’s no question of me being a ‘girlfriend’, we’re just acquaintances. I think the rumours began when an American journalist got to hear I’d been to tea with him, and then made two plus two equal five.”

Ms Bellingham, who is the sister of Conservative peer Lord Bellingham, has her own royal connections with her godmother being Frances Shand Kydd, the mother of Princess Diana.

A source told The Times: “Don’t believe all that poor Andy crap. He’s having a very nice time, thank you very much. He goes out, goes shooting with friends, sees his old chums who are very loyal to him. He’s not sitting around feeling sorry for himself any more.”

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor relocated to Norfolk after agreeing to give up the lease on Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion in Windsor where he had resided for over two decades.

Earlier this year, it was found that the late Queen’s disgraced second son Andrew received an undisclosed income from subletting three cottages in the grounds of Royal Lodge, a Crown Estate property, while paying a peppercorn rent.

The former Duke of York was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on February 19, his 66th birthday, following allegations he shared sensitive information with Epstein during his time as the UK’s trade envoy.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was interviewed under caution before being released under investigation, and denies wrongdoing. A police probe is ongoing.

Police Scotland announced in October that they were investigating the time the former prince had spent with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the King’s Balmoral estate in Scotland.

Detectives said they had received “information” and a probe is at a “very early stage” into the time the disgraced royal spent with the late paedophile financier at Balmoral.

The Daily Express reported the inquiries relate to claims that women were trafficked to the estate.