Prince Andrew was actually 'happy' with his widely criticized BBC interview, reveals presenter Emily Maitlis
According to the BBC journalist who took Prince Andrew's "car crash" interview earlier in November, he was actually "happy with it". Emily Maitlis, the journalist, told Radio Times, according to Express UK, "The impression I got was definitely that he had been happy with it. I think you have a curious duty of care towards your interviewees."
The interview was slammed almost immediately after it aired and its repercussions ended in Andrew having to step down from his public duties.
The 59-year-old denied having had sex with sexual assault accuser Virginia Roberts when she was 17 and said he did not recall ever even meeting her. He said that he had spent the day at a Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey and could not have had sex with her.
Commenting on the photograph, produced by Roberts as proof that she claims were shot in disgraced pedophile Jeffery Epstein's friend Ghislaine Maxwell's London home, Andrew said, "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken."
He was also widely criticized for having a lack of remorse for his friendship with Epstein and not showing any empathy towards his alleged victims. He had said, "The people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn, either by him or because of him, were actually very useful."
Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August while awaiting trial for child sex trafficking and is said to have died of a suicide. “I didn’t like people saying, ‘It’s a car crash interview,’ because I thought, ‘That’s not enticing, that’s not encouraging.’ I don’t want people thinking that’s what happens at Newsnight," Mailis said.
She revealed that after the interview was over, they had believed he had done a "fair job”. She added that it was not her job to draw conclusions about his innocence. “I don’t feel that is for me, actually. It’s not my job. I’m not a judge, I’m not a barrister, this isn’t a court of law.”
Adding that he had given answers she had "never expected to hear" she said that she "didn't see it coming." She claims, "It wasn’t an attempt to bring down the royals, just a chance to understand the story."