Britain's Prince Andrew told a reception at the World Economic Forum in Davos, that that he was reiterating and reaffirming the statements issued on his behalf by Buckingham Palace relating to accusations made several weeks ago that he had sex with an underage girl.

It was the prince's first public appearance since being accused in court documents of having sex with the girl.

The 54-year-old Duke of York, Queen Elizabeth's second son, was hosting a reception for Pitch@Palace which he founded as part of his work in support of entrepreneurship.

The reception was his first official engagement since he was named in allegations of sexual crimes filed in a Florida court.

According to the allegations, a woman identified only as Jane Doe #3, but named as Virginia Roberts by some British media, said she was forced by Andrew's friend, the disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, to have sex with several people when she was a minor.

She alleges that Prince Andrew was one of the people she was forced to have sex with.

"It is emphatically denied that HRH The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts," a Buckingham Palace spokesman said earlier this month.