Maitlis opens up about grilling prince
BY ASHLEIGH RAINBIRD NEWSNIGHT host Emily Maitlis has said Prince Andrew was “happy” with his interview last month when the TV cameras stopped rolling.
The Duke of York tried to set the record straight about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – and counter allegations that he slept with one of the teenage girls groomed by the paedophile.
But Andrew was widely condemned for his unsympathetic tone and lack of remorse about his friendship with Epstein.
Maitlis, who grilled the prince at Buckingham Palace, told the Radio Times: “The impression I got was definitely that he had been happy with it.”
Following the backlash, Andrew stepped down from official public duties for the foreseeable future.
Maitlis said: “I didn’t see it coming. It wasn’t an attempt to bring down the royals, just a chance to understand the story.”
The presenter said she imagined there are words
Andrew “wishes he’d chosen differently or better”.
But she added she respects him for facing her questions head on.
Maitlis said: “I admire him for his candour and his engagement with the questions in an age of so much deviation and circumnavigation, and quite often a failure to put yourself up for scrutiny.”
She is concerned the fallout could put people off coming on the show, though.
She explained: “I didn’t like people saying, ‘Oh, it’s a car crash interview’, because I thought, ‘That’s not enticing, that’s not encouraging.’ I don’t want people thinking that’s what happens at Newsnight.”
The full interview is in the Radio Times.