The women who made it happen
WHEN Newsnight producers f i r s t made overtures to t he Palace about a possible interview almost a year ago, Andrew’s knee-jerk response was that he didn’t want ‘to be shouted at for half an hour’. One aide meanwhile thought he risked coming across as ‘an entitled idiot’.
So it surprised many when, on Thursday, Andrew finally went toe-to-toe with Emily Maitlis in the middle of Buckingham Palace’s South Drawing Room for an interview about his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the claims – which he has long denied – that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl.
It was his first public grilling on the subject, the interview of his life in fact, but he was on home turf at least, not in some harshly lit BBC studio.
This was the room that Queen Victoria commandeered the day after her coronation in 1838 for the Palace’s first ball.
It was perhaps not the best setting for someone seeking to convey humility rather than entitlement, but in the end it was the cross-examination itself that would focus minds.
The Mail on Sunday has been told a similar voluntary sit-down with the FBI is highly unlikely, so after last night’s broadcast – at least as far as Andrew is concerned – the matter is closed.
‘He’s not going to be travelling to America any time soon I can tell you that,’ said one highly placed source. ‘ The FBI would question him, it is that simple. They [the Palace] just aren’t going to put him in that position.
‘You can’t have a Royal landing in the US and then being asked to take part in questioning. I think it will be quite a while before he goes there.’
Credit is due to Newsnight for landing the interview, but in particular to Samantha McAlister, a former barrister turned TV producer. She is a former European debating champion and her silky persuasive skills were invaluable in negotiations with the Palace.
While Andrew initially voiced concerns – at one point he said emphatically: ‘No, we shouldn’t do Newsnight’ – his influential private secretary Amanda Thirsk was enthusiastic and, over time, talked him round.
One crucial factor was his charity work. As one senior aide put it: ‘ As a senior member of the Royal Family, the Duke of York supports a great many charities and initiatives. HRH does not wish unfounded allegations, nor a former association, to distract from his important work to support so many organisations.’
In the end, Andrew followed his private secretary’s advice.
‘She’s like his gatekeeper and everyone knows that in the Palace,’ said another source. Amanda is a force of nature, she’s hugely influential – if Amanda wants something done it gets done.
‘ She thinks it is quite simple: that he has apologised for visiting Epstein after his release from prison and has denied all the allegations. She feels there’s nothing to see here. She just thinks the Duke has done nothing wrong... all he did was go and see his friend.
‘ He shouldn’t have done it in 2010, he’s apologised.’