Prince Andrew’s BBC interview: Emily Maitlis reveals ‘strange’ behind-the-scenes details

The journalist on the other side of Prince Andrew’s disastrous BBC interview has revealed new details that make the Duke seem even stranger. Photo / BBC

Prince Andrew’s disastrous BBC Newsnight interview caused shockwaves in 2019 and continues to do so to this day. Now, the journalist who interviewed the now-disgraced Prince has revealed fresh details from behind the scenes, framing the prince as an even stranger man than you may have thought.

Journalist Emily Maitlis has provided a deeper insight into the prince in a new UK documentary titled, Andrew: The Problem Prince. She also sheds light on Buckingham Palace’s role within the bombshell interview, during which the Duke bizarrely defended himself against sexual assault allegations made against him, and his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew made headlines when he reached an undisclosed settlement with his accuser, Virginia Giuffre.

“Andrew said this curious phrase, ‘You know, I’ve got to seek approval from higher up.’ Of course, he’s talking about the Queen,” Maitlis revealed in the documentary, recalling the moments prior to her interview with the Duke.

After the interview was done, the Queen’s influence was clear.

“The Queen had reportedly read the transcript,” shared Maitlis.

Prince Andrew appears on BBC Newsnight with Emily Maitlis with regard to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Photo / BBC

“Andrew received a tap on the shoulder by his security detail and they said, ‘Sir, you might have to come with us.’

“It was after the Queen had seen it ... it dawned on her before it dawned on him.”

It appears that the Duke’s mother instantly knew the interview would be a PR mess, however the Duke seemed to think it had gone well.

“This is how I knew Andrew was happy with the interview: he stayed chatting [afterwards], he seemed very jolly,” Maitlis said.

“Then a whole load of people came in and I said, ‘What’s going on?’ and he said, ‘Oh it’s cinema night at the palace, you can stay if you want.’ I thought, ‘I’ve got to get away from here.’”

'It was after the Queen had seen it ... it dawned on her before it dawned on him.' Photo / Getty Images

Newsnight producer Sam McAlister also spoke to Channel 4 as well as Prince Andrew’s lawyer at the time, Paul Tweed.

“I thought, ‘This can’t be real because this is just car crash,’” McAlister revealed of the interview, who thought it would never be broadcast.

“I said, ‘Is he mad? Absolutely no way, that’s a bad idea,’” recalled Tweed, who was opposed to the interview from the start.

The infamous image of the Duke with his accuser Virginia Giuffre and the now incarcerated Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo / Supplied

“But the Duke made the decision on his own,” she said adding, “I thought, ‘Somebody’s going to stop this.’ In the palace, you know … the reaction was devastating.”

Andrew has kept his life under wraps in recent months, after he was stripped of his royal titles by the late Queen.

It comes after news of the Prince’s impending eviction from his home in Windsor, which he is allegedly “distraught” by, and a dramatic cut to his yearly earnings, set in motion by King Charles.

Andrew has been living at Royal Lodge, a 30-room mansion in Berkshire, since 2004. He currently resides on the property with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.