Emily Maitlis says Prince Andrew ‘paused being a royal’ during BBC Epstein interview

Emily Maitlis today revealed she knew her interview with Prince Andrew was heading for a car crash after he made it clear he wasn’t going to ‘repent’ over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The Newsnight presenter also spoke of her shock about how the Duke of York became ‘unleashed’ and ‘paused being a royal’ during the hour-long Newsnight special at Buckingham Palace a month ago.

During the bombshell interview, Prince Andrew attempted to ‘set the record straight’ by speaking about the sex allegations against him, but was widely condemned for showing a lack of remorse over his friendship with a convicted paedophile.

In a first-person piece for The Guardian, Maitlis said she realised the interview would turn into a disaster for Andrew when he replied to a question about whether he regretted his friendship with Epstein by saying ‘still not’.

‘It was such a candid admission, such a bald refusal to play the game with any wider apology or regret,’ the broadcaster wrote.

‘It would become the pivotal moment of the entire hour. This is a man – a prince – who did not come to repent. He came to earn back his right to tell the story his way.’

Maitlis said that at this point ‘Andrew was unleashed’ and that it was clear he wanted to tell her everything, adding: ‘He paused being “a royal” and found his voice.’

Another key part of the interview was Andrew’s denial he had ever slept with Epstein’s ‘sex slave’ Virginia Roberts.

Notoriously, the prince tried to rubbish her story by suggesting her claims he had been ‘sweating’ when they met at Tramp nightclub in London were wrong because ‘I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat’.

Another key part of the interview was Andrew’s denial he had ever slept with Epstein’s ‘sex slave’ Virginia Roberts (who he is pictured with, allegedly in early 2001)  

The duke denied he had sex with her on three separate occasions, saying the encounter in 2001 did not happen as he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to Pizza Express in Woking for a party, and they spent the rest of the day together.

In Maitlis’ recollection of the encounter, she continued: ‘And, after the allotted 45 minutes, we stopped. The prince was still charming, and even more relaxed. He took me off down the marble hall.

‘We chatted about the famous King’s speech and he pointed out the ministers’ staircase, which the prime minister ascends each week to meet the Queen.’

Maitlis also revealed she had spent months arranging the meeting and was worried it was going to be abandoned ‘at every stage’.

It is highly unusual for a member of the Royal Family to speak about something so personal and controversial in a one-on-one interview.

Only the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and Prince Charles, both speaking about their failed marriage, have done so. Both programmes were considered disastrous for the monarchy.

Maitlis, seen at the Cheltenham literature festival on October 5, was widely praised for her forensic questioning 

During the interview, Andrew attempted to ‘set the record straight’ by speaking about the sex allegations against him, but was widely condemned for his lack of remorse for the friendship