One of the most memorable events in the history of television.
On Saturday evening, BBC Newsnight broadcast Emily Maitlis’ full interview of Prince Andrew, leaving audiences around the world utterly shocked.
The royal, who is the second eldest son of Queen Elizabeth, sat down to answer questions on his friendship with billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and accusations by Virginia Roberts Giuffre that Prince Andrew had sexual contact with her while she was being trafficked by Epstein.
Andrew was second in the line of succession for the British throne when he was born, after his older brother Prince Charles, but is now eighth in succession.
The prince said he couldn’t have had sex with Roberts Giuffre on the date alleged, because: “I was with the children and I’d taken [daughter Princess] Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking for a party at, I suppose, sort of 4pm or 5pm in the afternoon.”
Asked how he remembers something so specific, he said: “Because going to Pizza Express in Woking is an unusual thing for me to do, a very unusual thing for me to do.”
The Duke of York maintained he had “no recollection” of every meeting his accuser.
The interview was packed full of utterly bizarre moments, including the prince spending an minute detailing a condition that meant he was unable to sweat, but that he is able to sweat again now. Roberts Giuffre had said she remembered him sweating, to which he replied:
“I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at and I simply… it was almost impossible for me to sweat.” He now claims he has taken actions in the very recent past that have enabled him to start sweating again.
In perhaps the most jarring moment of the interview, the prince described Jeffrey Epstein’s behaviour as “unbecoming,” prompting Maitlis to cut across him and say “Unbecoming? He was a sex offender.” Prince Andrew explained his choice of words by saying that he was being “polite.”
Epstein died in prison earlier this year while awaiting trial for a multitude of sex crimes, including sex trafficking of a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. These charges followed his 2008 conviction for “solicitation of prostitution involving a minor.”
Over the course of the interview, Andrew confirmed that he had flown on Epstein’s private jet, stayed on his private island, stayed at his house in Palm Beach, and stayed at his house in New York City.
You can watch the interview in full below:
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