Some of Prince Andrew's answers baffled viewers. Photo / BBC
Some of Prince Andrew's answers baffled viewers. Photo / BBC
UK broadcaster Piers Morgan has furiously hit out at Prince Andrew's interview with the BBC, labelling the embattled royal's performance during the "no holds barred" grilling as "desperate" and the decision to consent to the probe as "insane".
He tweeted: "This is one of the most astonishing interviews I've everwatched. Brilliant forensic dissection by @maitlis - desperate, toe-curling bulls*** from Prince Andrew. Why on earth did he do this? Insane."
The world has reacted with scorn to Prince Andrew's trainwreck interview, during which the Queen's son awkwardly denied claims that he had sex with one of late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's sex slaves.
After years of being dogged by headlines about his close ties with the convicted paedophile, the royal agreed to sit down with Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis to finally answer questions about their relationship and deny accusations that he had sex with then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, reports News.com.au.
There were plenty of baffling moments during the 49-minute special, but a standout was the Duke of York claiming that he had "no recollection of ever meeting" Ms Giuffre, explaining that on the night in question he had taken daughter Beatrice to a party at a Surrey outpost of restaurant chain Pizza Express.
Some of Prince Andrew's answers baffled viewers. Photo / BBC
He also said that Ms Giuffre's claims that he had sweated heavily during their alleged time together were incorrect because he has "a peculiar medical condition which is that I don't sweat … it was almost impossible for me to sweat".
Prince Andrew was also condemned by many for failing to show any remorse over his friendship with Epstein or sympathy for the many victims, with British commentator Piers Morgan describing it as simply "excruciating".
But Royal Central editor Charlie Proctor probably summed it up best, tweeting: "I expected a train wreck. That was a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion level bad."
#PrinceAndrew his best move now is to deny it was him being interviewed on Newsnight.
"It certainly looks like me, but it can't be proven that it actually was me ... And the man in the interview was sweating, and I don't sweat ... I was in Nando's that night, honest ..."
