Emily Maitlis reveals how she nervously fled to the Buckingham Palace bathrooms to compose herself just seconds before her famous Prince Andrew interview

Emily Maitlis has revealed she was forced into a last-minute crisis situation as she sat talking in the Buckingham Palace toilets seconds before her famous interview with Prince Andrew.

The 54-year-old journalist interviewed the royal in 2019 and has now revealed how she had to ‘excuse’ herself just before the interview and run to the toilet to collect herself.

The interview has now been turned into a three-part Prime Video series that has received rave reviews.

It sees actress Ruth Wilson, 42, play former Newsnight journalist Emily in a retelling of the car crash interview.

He was questioned about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, which threatened to damage the reputation of the entire royal family.

Speaking to Good Housekeeping, Emily said of how she calmed herself down right before the defining moment in her career: ‘I remember shaking [the Prince’s] hand, and then I excused myself and fled to the toilet. I locked the door and sank into the corner of this beautiful, very kitschy, very ornate toilet.

‘At one point I was holding the sink and I thought to myself, ‘Okay, what is this interview about?

‘Find the focus, find the punch line of the interview.’ I kind of told myself: ‘Don’t interrupt anyone, don’t be rude, don’t forget to be polite in your address – but don’t hold back your questions either.’

Canadian-born British journalist Emily said that as a youngster she “wouldn’t have believed” that parts of her life would end up in TV dramas.

She added: ‘I just thought it was a hoot. I couldn’t believe it.

‘Isn’t it a dream come true, to be played by Gillian Anderson and Ruth Wilson? If I had to explain that to a younger version of myself, I just wouldn’t believe it.’

Emily said after the interview that “way too much responsibility” was placed on her and her team.

The journalist said: ‘There were people who said to me: ‘What have you done to the royal family?’

‘Far too big matters that placed far too much responsibility on the shoulders of our team.

‘But it is very disturbing to see the effects in real time, because then you feel a sense of responsibility.

“I keep coming back to this: I’m a journalist, I just ask questions.”

She also spoke about her decision to leave the BBC in 2022. She said she was “grateful” to the broadcaster but felt it was “now or never” as she approached 50, so she decided to leave.

After her time at the BBC, she appeared on Channel 4’s election night, presented a daily news podcast called The News Agents and served as executive producer on A Very Royal Scandal.

Emily also spoke about the time she gave the interview in an interview with GMB last week. She candidly said that rewatching the series made her realise how stressful it is to take on the challenge.

She said: ‘When I watch the drama, my heart starts to race – it takes me back to when I thought ‘will I remember to ask the right questions? Can I do this?”

She added of her reaction to Prince Andrew’s behaviour: ‘I realised early on that he would be candid in his answers. We never assumed guilt and it was an hour of his own words.

“It didn’t matter what he said, it would always make history. We knew we only had one chance to hear it from the Prince. In any case, it was a public document.

“We were trying to get a picture of what actually happened and that was quite forensic.”

When presenter Richard Madeley asked her after the interview what she thought of the prince, she replied cautiously: ‘I thought he had tried very hard to remember his lines…

‘He wanted us to film extra bits as well, he wanted to expand on the Pizza Express stuff and things like that, and it was a dilemma as a journalist whether he would add things that he wanted at the end.

“But he was happy with the interview. After the interview he gave us a tour of the palace and even invited us to come back again.”

She indicated that the interview could have been damaging: ‘I’m concerned about the consequences of it.

“There was a fallout for his family. I worry about him, as I do for anyone who has had a status drop. But I don’t regret the interview.”

To support her position, she added: “But nothing has been decided yet about Epstein’s victims.”

The November 2024 issue of Good Housekeeping is on sale now.