ANDY’S ‘REGRET’ AT NOT SAYING SORRY
Duke ‘wishes he’d shown sympathy on Newsnight’
PRINCE Andrew has admitted that his Newsnight interview over his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein is a “source of regret”.
His car crash appearance on the BBC last November, when he denied knowing his sex accuser Virginia Giuffre, 36, led to him stepping down from public life.
The Duke of York’s admittance comes in stark contrast to reports he told the Queen that his interview with presenter Emily Maitlis, was “a great success”.
A source close to Andrew, 60, said: “I don’t think he regrets the intention behind the interview, which was to clear the air for h is family, but the fact he was unable to convey his sympathy for the victims of Epstein is, of course, a source of regret”. During the interview, Andrew vehemently denied the paedophile’s “teen sex slave” Giuffre’s claims that they had sex three times in 2001 when she was 17.
On the night she alleges they slept together in London, in March that year, Andrew said he visited Pizza Express in Woking with Princess Beatrice.
He also refuted Giuffre’s claim he sweated profusely while dancing with her at a nightclub claiming he had been unable to perspire due to a condition. Sources say Andrew, who quit as
UK Trade Envoy in 2011 after he was pictured with billionaire Epstein, “will never return to royal duties”. The Prince is working for ex-wife Sarah Ferguson’s charity delivering supplies to hospitals.
It has been revealed he will not co-operate with the investigation into Epstein unless US authorities offer “an olive branch”.
Last week a diplomatic row broke out after the US Department of Justice wrote to the Home Office asking to interview the Duke about his relationship with the late financier, who killed himself last
August while awaiting trial for underage sex-trafficking. Andrew said he offered his help as a witness three times and accused prosecutors of breaking confidentiality rules and telling “complete lies”. But New York prosecutor Geoffrey Berman, who is heading the inquiry, said Prince Andrew had “yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to co-operate”.
Epstein’s alleged “madam” Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, who denies any wrongdoing, is also wanted for questioning.
Calls are increasing for the Duke to lose his HRH title. Nigel Cawthorne, author of Prince Andrew: Epstein and the Palace, said: “He is virtually retired.”
I don’t think he regrets interview’s intention, to clear air for his family SOURCE ON PRINCE’S NEWSNIGHT APPEARANCE