Prince Andrew’s interview with mily Maitlis almost never happened, as the crew thought ‘royal was going to walk’ photographer who shot the pair claims, ahead of Netflix drama scoop airing about the car crash show
A photographer who shot the infamous interview with Prince Andrew in 2019 says the Duke of York thought it was ‘really good’.
Mark Harrison said he received a call from BBC Newsnight in November 2019 after his friend couldn’t get the job done.
The photographer, who has previously shot Margret Thatcher, said he almost turned down the gig because he was waiting for a dishwasher delivery.
Little did he know it was the assignment for one of the most disastrous interviews in royal history, which is being remade for Netflix drama Scoop, which airs tomorrow.
Emily Maitlis spoke to the Duke of York about his relationship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the Virginia Giuffre allegations.
In scenes where Andrew and his family were humiliated, he claimed he was at Pizza Express in Woking that night Virginia Giuffre claimed he had sex with her London when she was 17.
Photographer Mark Harrison joined This Morning today and spoke about the interview experience
One of the photos Mark took of Prince Andrew and Emily Maitlis in the hallway
He also tried to refute her claims that he ‘sweats profusely’ by claiming that he had a condition due to shelling during the Falklands War that prevented him from sweating.
Andrew then suggested that the photo of them together in Ghislaine Maxwell’s London stables was fake.
Despite all this, Mark claims that Andrew thought the interview went ‘really well’ at the time.
The photographer was called at 6.30pm the night before the interview was due to take place and told This Morning: ‘The phone rings and they say, “Are you free tomorrow?” in a slightly panicked voice.
“I said it depends what it is because I have a dishwasher delivery coming. They said they couldn’t tell me and that I had one minute to decide if I wanted to do it.’
Mark said he was intrigued by the call and decided to take the job. He was then told to go to Buckingham Palace the next day in a sharp suit and polished shoes.
“I was waiting and felt a bit like a spy, which sounds ridiculous, but I don’t know what I’m going to do or why I’m there,” he said.
Mark then explained that he heard a tannoy announcing that the Queen’s laundry had arrived at the palace.
“So I get up and look. It was in a large van that arrived, that’s probably all I need to say,” he said.
He then made his way to the main room when a Palace intern told him he was there for a job with the Duke of York.
“(The crew) said don’t stop filming, whatever you do, there’s a chance Prince Andrew could walk, we don’t know what’s going to happen, whatever you do, get it,” he said.
Prince Andrew appeared in good spirits on Thursday when he was caught driving near Windsor Castle
The 64-year-old Duke of York wore a navy blue sweater as he got behind the wheel with a royal aide, a day before the release of Netflix film Scoop about the Duke’s Newsnight interview
The drama – starring Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell (pictured) – delves into the royal family’s Newsnight car crash interview over his relationship with pedophile Jeffery Epstein
Mr Sewell as the Duke of York and Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis in Scoop, left, retelling the story of his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview – widely regarded as the most disastrous in royal history
Mark said he had to delay the start of the interview because there was a ‘messy breakfast’ at the back of the recording and he asked for it to be removed.
He said: ‘I didn’t take any photos during the interview. I took a photo beforehand with Andrew smiling and Emily looking quite serious.”
The photographer said that the hallway photos were actually taken at the end of the interview, but they showed them at the beginning.
“(Andrew and Emily) marched to the end of the room and I asked them to go really slow and not talk, and they move pretty fast and (talked).
‘We get to the end and (they say) it’s finished and then Prince Andrew said, “Well, I think that went very well.”
Mark added that he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the whole experience and that the interview was a ‘bit of a shock’ for both him and the audience.
Netflix has announced that there is a new one film based on the interview, starring Rufus Sewell as the Duke of York Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis, is released tomorrow after premiering in Mayfair last week.