PRINCE Andrew wants to turn to disgraced actor Kevin Spacey to try to clear his name, The Sun has been told.
The Duke wants to distance himself from convicted Ghislaine Maxwell, who was infamously pictured larking around in Buckingham Palace’s throne room with the shamed actor in 2002.
The VIP tour was organised by Andrew — but he wants Spacey to tell jurors it was he who invited pal Maxwell.
A source said: “Andrew had invited Spacey for the tour of the Palace. She came with him — not as a guest of Andrew’s.”
The Duke of York, 61, claimed in legal documents this week that 60-year-old Maxwell was not a close friend of his despite snaps of them together, including one showing them his accuser Virginia Giuffre.
However, a Palace cop insisted that Maxwell would “breeze in like one of the Royal Family”.
Spacey, 62, is said to be “high on a hit list of names” who Andrew’s legal team want to call on after he demanded a trial by jury over sex abuse allegations.
The Buck House photos emerged two years ago and show Spacey on the late Duke of Edinburgh’s throne.
A smirking Maxwell — facing up to 65 years in jail for sex trafficking, grooming and recruiting teenage girls for billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein — is on the Queen’s throne.
The pictures were taken during a private tour for then-President Bill Clinton and other VIPs.
The insider added: “The snaps go right to the centre of the claims against Andrew, and an image of Ghislaine Maxwell in the most private space within Buckingham Palace looks very damning.
“But if Kevin can convince a jury he was the crucial link with Ghislaine, rather than Andrew, it distances the Prince from her somewhat — and that’s crucial.
“Andrew also believes such a gifted actor and public speaker could be a very compelling asset in front of a jury.”
This is despite Spacey facing sexual misconduct allegations of his own.
At least 20 came from young men in 2017, alleging he approached them at the Old Vic theatre between 1995 and 2013.
In 2018 Spacey was charged with an alleged indecent assault in the US. He denied the charge, which was later dropped along with a civil lawsuit.
But Spacey lost his starring role as a conniving politician in Netflix show House of Cards and his scenes from a Ridley Scott film were airbrushed out.
The source said: “It’s a ballsy move to think about using Spacey given his own problems.
“But his testimony would add to Andrew’s argument that Ghislaine was not a close friend.”
However former royal protection officer Paul Page has told Vanity Fair that the socialite was able to “breeze into the Palace” despite being the daughter of disgraced media tycoon Robert Maxwell.
Mr Page added: “But that was neither here nor there to Prince Andrew.
“As far as he was concerned, she was allowed to come in and go as she pleased.”
Mr Page, who worked with Andrew between 1998 and 2004, went on: “We were instructed not to put her name in the visitors’ book.”
He said he first met Maxwell in 2001 when she turned up in a chauffeur-driven Range Rover.
It was around this time that Epstein and Maxwell are claimed to have introduced Andrew to Ms Giuffre, then aged 17.
Epstein and Maxwell, along with disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein, also posed in fancy dress for a snap at the 18th birthday party of Andrew’s daughter Princess Beatrice at Windsor Castle in July 2006.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution. He was arrested again in 2019, accused of sex trafficking minors.
He died aged 66 in a New York cell while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide.
And Epstein rape victim Chauntae Davies has previously told The Sun how Spacey had used the billionaire’s “Lolita Express” private jet — though there is no suggestion of any impropriety.
The hope of drawing Spacey to the stand comes after Andrew’s request for a trial by jury raised eyebrows among many at the prospect of his most intimate personal details being presented in open court.
Both Prince Charles and Prince William are understood to be spearheading efforts to avoid the spectacle of a public trial to protect the family from any possible further humiliation.
The trial would see him face accusations from Ms Giuffre, now 38.
Last night a spokesman for the Duke of York said of Spacey: “It is categorically untrue that any help has been offered or that we have accepted any.”
The actor was unavailable for comment.
