‘There was nothing that was off limit’: Emily Maitlis says her bombshell interview with Prince Andrew goes into ‘forensic detail’ about claims made against him – as the Newsnight presenter is seen taking her son out to Wagamama before programme airs
- Emily Maitlis said her interview with Prince Andrew goes into ‘forensic detail’
- She said there was ‘no question he didn’t address… nothing that was off limit’
- Newsnight presenter was spotted out in knee-length leggings and puffer jacket
- Her bombshell interview with Prince Andrew airs tonight at 9pm on BBC2
Emily Maitlis said her interview with the Duke of York goes into ‘forensic detail’ about allegations made against him in the media – as she was spotted taking her son to Wagamama just hours before the bombshell discussion is due to air.
Mrs Maitlis, 49, today stepped out in knee-length leggings and a puffer jacket for the lunchtime jaunt in London, and controversy still followed the Newsnight presenter as she bumped into a pro-Israel protest upon leaving the restaurant.
The mother of two, who married investment manager Mark Gwynne in 2000, interviewed Prince Andrew on Thursday for a BBC special which will air at 9pm tonight.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I was expecting to be told it’s beneath the BBC to be questioning a senior royal about his sexual history.
‘And to be fair to the Duke of York, we had no comeback, there was no question he didn’t address, there was nothing that was off limit.’
Emily Maitlis was spotted out and about in London today and took her son to Wagamama just hours before her bombshell interview with Prince Andrew will air
Controversy still followed the Newsnight presenter as she bumped into a pro-Israeli protest upon leaving the restaurant
The Duke of York spoke with Maitlis for the programme ‘Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal’, where the duke addresses claims he had sex with Virginia Roberts – and his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
In a ‘make or break’ TV interview about the scandal tonight, he said it felt like ‘the right thing to do’ to stay friends with Epstein and did so because he was ‘too honourable’ to refuse.
He said he recognises it was wrong and now regrets going to stay with Epstein in New York after the financier’s release from prison on child sex offences.
Referring to the Queen and the Royal Family, he admitted he ‘let the side down’.
According to royal sources, the programme makes for uncomfortable viewing at times, but, they say, is a ‘no holds barred’ discussion of the Epstein case.
The mother of two, who married investment manager Mark Gwynne in 2000, interviewed Prince Andrew on Thursday for a BBC special
The Duke of York has been interviewed by Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis at Buckingham Palace and will be broadcast on BBC 2 at 9pm on Saturday
Media commentator Mark Stephens, who represented James Hewitt following his alleged affair with Princess Diana, told the Guardian the strategy of taking part in a media interview only works ‘if you’ve got a complete and full answer’ to all lines of inquiry.
High-profile celebrity PR agent Mark Borkowski said the interview was ‘extraordinary’.
He added: ‘Andrew has never enjoyed the company of journalists, and always kept the press firmly at arm’s length.
‘Doing something so public is a high-risk strategy, and likely just to draw more attention to the issue without changing any minds.’
Maitlis’s landmark interview tonight with Prince Andrew is a very rare television confessional for the Royal Family
A friend of Prince Andrew told the Daily Mail’s Richard Kay: ‘In a way, he is saying ‘judge me’.
‘Everything else had failed, he had no alternative.’
Insiders have also said that the Duke felt he had no choice but to speak out after being left ‘paralysed’ by his inability to defend his reputation.
The full interview will be shown on BBC Two at 9pm on Saturday in a Newsnight special: Prince Andrew & The Epstein Scandal.