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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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The journalist behind the BBC interview that ended Prince Andrew's royal career has predicted more reputations will be ruined by the Jeffrey Epstein files, stating: "We're at the tip of the iceberg."
Andrew invited Emily Maitlis into the palace for an in depth conversation in November 2019 about his friendship with Epstein and allegations he had sex with a 17-year-old trafficking victim, which he denies. Virginia Giuffre would later make those same allegations through a New York civil lawsuit which Andrew settled out of court for an undisclosed sum while denying liability.
By the end of the interview, the prince's reputation was in tatters and a few days later he announced in a statement he had asked Queen Elizabeth II "if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future."
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Now the interview, for BBC Newsnight, is back in the headlines due to a newly leaked email from Andrew to Epstein which appears to show one of his comments to Maitlis, about when he cut off contact with Epstein, was false.
Maitlis reacted in an interview for British radio station LBC in which she also predicted more careers would be ruined by the Epstein story: "I mean, the number of people that have ended up lying for Epstein, whose careers have ended up in absolute tatters because of their connection to him. I think we're at the tip of the iceberg, I genuinely do."
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What Emily Maitlis Said About New Prince Andrew Email
Andrew told Maitlis of his relationship with Epstein back in their 2019 interview: "I ceased contact with him after I was aware that he was under investigation and that was later in 2006 and I wasn't in touch with him again until 2010."
He said he cut off the friendship in person during a December 2010 walk through Central Park, in New York, that was photographed by the paparazzi: "That was the conversation, coincidentally, that was photographed, which was when I said to him, I said: 'Look, because of what has happened, I don't think it is appropriate that we should remain in contact.'
"And by mutual agreement, during that walk in the park, we decided that we would part company and I left, I think it was the next day, and to this day I never had any contact with him from that day forward."
Yet a couple of months later, in February 2011, we now know he emailed Epstein to say: "I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me! It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it. Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!"
The message came the day after the first interview with his accuser Virginia Giuffre, published in The Mail on Sunday, which included a photo of Andrew with his arm around Guiffre's waist.
Maitlis said: "The narrative from Andrew had always been, after I realized who he was, you know, broadly, I ended contact with him.
"Now, that doesn't match up because in 2008 [Epstein had] already been a convicted sex offender, he'd served his short prison sentence. And Prince Andrew had told me that he'd broken off contact in 2006, but actually he hadn't."
"We still don't know the absolute truth even behind that photo taken in Central Park," she added. "But much of the reporting has suggested that it was very useful to Epstein because it provided, sort of, kompromat. It links him."
Emily Maitlis' Prince Andrew Interview
Maitlis' interview with Prince Andrew in November 2019 was so famous it was recreated in not one but two fictional dramas: Scoop, on Netflix, and A Very Royal Scandal, on Amazon Prime.
At the time, Andrew was still a working royal but was under pressure over allegations by Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked by Epstein to London, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands to have sex with the prince when she was 17 years old. He denies the accusations.
In one of the now notorious moments of the interview, Andrew said he stayed at Epstein's home in New York in December 2010 because he wanted to break off their friendship in person, a move he described as "too honorable."
In another, he responded to Guiffre's account of him sweating profusely while dancing with her at Tramp nightclub in March 2001: "There's a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don't sweat or I didn't sweat at the time and that was it.
"Yes, I didn't sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenalin in the Falkland's War when I was shot at and I simply … it was almost impossible for me to sweat."
He also said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein: "Now, still not and the reason being is that 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."
And Maitlis appeared stunned when Andrew said: "Do I regret the fact that he [Epstein] has quite obviously conducted himself in a manner unbecoming? Yes."
He also denied having sex with any woman connected with Epstein: "No and without putting too fine a point on it, if you're a man it is a positive act to have sex with somebody. You have to have to take some sort of positive action and so therefore if you try to forget it's very difficult to try and forget a positive action and I do not remember anything."
Ultimately, the interview, broadcast on Saturday, November 16, left Andrew enduring the ridicule of the British public and several days later on November 20 he released a statement: "It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support.
"Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission.
"I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathize with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure. I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives."
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