Prince Andrew ‘may have given his disastrous Newsnight interview to help daughter Beatrice,’ reveals interviewer Emily Maitlis in new Channel 4 documentary
- Andrew may have been thinking about his daughter when he agreed to Newsnight
- Interviewer Emily Maitlis shared her thoughts in a Channel 4 documentary
Prince Andrew may have made his disastrous Newsnight appearance in an attempt to help his daughter Princess Beatrice, his interviewer Emily Maitlis said yesterday.
The Duke of York took his eldest daughter behind-the-scenes negotiations with the BBC team behind the interview, journalist Miss Maitlis and producer Sam McAlister.
Miss Maitlis said at the time she thought he might have agreed to talk in an attempt to make amends with his daughter, who was recently engaged to her now-husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
She told the Channel 4 documentary: “It was the first time the thought crossed my mind that maybe he did it for her.
“Your life has been hellish. You should have read these headlines. You are trying to get married. I’m going to do this to make it better for you. I don’t know if that’s true, but it popped into my head.’
The Duke of York speaks for the first time about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein in an interview with BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis
Princess Beatrice with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
Producer Miss McAlister said the Duke had announced he had brought someone to the negotiations, and that she thought he meant a lawyer.
She told the documentary: “Instead, his daughter, Princess Beatrice, comes around the corner. That was a really pretty warped ball of warped balls.
‘Can you imagine being in Buckingham Palace talking to a member of the royal family about sex crimes? That’s pretty tricky. And now I have to do it in front of his daughter.’
Miss McAlister has previously described how Beatrice took notes on a clipboard during the meeting and appeared ‘anxious’.
The princess will appear in the new Netflix drama that chronicles the lead-up to the Duke of York’s Newsnight interview. That reports the Telegraph.
The Duke and Duchess of York with their daughter Beatrice and Eugenie
Actress Charity Wakefield will star as Beatrice in Scoop, with Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis, Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew and Billie Piper as BBC producer Sam McAllister.
The movie follows the book by Sam McAlister, who managed to score Prince Andrew’s bombshell interview with Jeffrey Epstein, which is widely believed to have backfired.
Ms McAlister revealed the role of Beatrice in an ITV This Morning interview two years after the Newsnight interview aired.
She said: “The only thing worse than talking to a prospective interviewee about allegations of sexual impropriety and having sex with a 17-year-old girl is having to do it in front of his daughter.”