Former BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis grilled Prince Andrew about his alleged friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, and accusations against him, in 2019
Emily Maitlis said a phrase uttered by Prince Andrew during his bombshell interview struck a “really weird note”. In an episode of the High Performance podcast, the former BBC newsreader shared her real thoughts about her headline-grabbing 2019 Newsnight interview with the Duke of York.
During the interview, Andrew, who has since stepped back from Royal duties, addressed his association with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell on 10 August 2019. He also addressed allegations against him, which he has always vehemently denied.
Emily has now shed light on certain “little phrases” she picked up on during the notorious interview.
Discussing her interviewing technique, she highlighted the importance of listening to every word. This led her to claim that there were “certain points” in the interview where she heard something “interesting” or unexpected.
She explained: “But you are listening, and there were certain points in the interview where I thought, ‘Ooh, that’s interesting. Oh, gosh, I wasn’t expecting that’. You know, just little phrases that were used, which told a whole story in themselves.”
When asked to give an example, she continued: “Like when he said he’d been ‘too honourable’. Right, that’s one of the phrases he used. I said, ‘Why didn’t you tell Epstein after he was convicted of paedophilia that you couldn’t maintain a friendship with him?’
“And he said, ‘I went to his house, maybe that was wrong, but I… maybe I was too honourable’, and I just thought, ‘Ooh, that’s going to strike a really weird note. I’m not sure that’s gonna sound how he wants it to sound’.”
The father-of-two, who no longer uses his HRH title, later reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged that he had sexually assaulted her, and brought a civil case against him.
The settlement was not an admission of guilt and he accepted no liability. He has continuously denied any wrongdoing in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Andrew has been embroiled in other highly publicised matters in recent years, including his links to an investigation into an alleged Chinese spy known as ‘H6’.
Subsequently identified as businessman Yang Tengbo, Tengbo asked for his anonymity to be waived and insisted that the spy allegation was “entirely untrue”.
Meanwhile, Andrew stated he “ceased all contact” with him after receiving Government advice. Additionally, the Duke was faced with another controversy surrounding the lease of Royal Lodge.
Reports claimed that he allegedly struggled to cover the £30million estate’s maintenance expenses of £400,000 annually.
He was then thought to be locked in a disagreement over the lease with his brother, King Charles.
Despite this, Andrew is believed to have had financial backing from an anonymous source to stay in Royal Lodge, which he shares with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
While previously discussing the matter on The Royal Beat, Kate Mansey, the Royal editor of The Times, alleged that Andrew had “assured” the keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, that he had secured the “funds through legitimate means”.
