Jason Stein started as Communications Secretary to the Duke in September – but had quit by November
The guru hired by Prince Andrew to spearhead a PR ‘fightback’ following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal ‘quit’ just weeks into job ahead of the Duke’s bombshell BBC interview, it was revealed last night.
Jason Stein started as Communications Secretary to the Duke in September.
Stein was Amber Rudd’s former Special Adviser and developed a reputation at Westminster as a ‘master of the dark arts’.
But the 28-year-old sensationally left his post two weeks before the Prince’s interview with Emily Maitlis.
His abrupt departure no doubt came as a further blow to the beleaguered Prince.
Mr Stein, 28, lost his job earlier when Ms Rudd quit as Work and Pensions Secretary in protest at the removal of the whip from 21 Tory MPs after they rebelled against the Government to stop a No Deal Brexit.
This comes as aides reportedly ‘argued’ as they feared the interview would leave the prince ‘terribly exposed’.
One aide meanwhile thought he risked coming across as ‘an entitled idiot’.
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
Meanwhile, when Newsnight producers first made overtures to the 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’.
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.
Andrew voiced concerns but private secretary Amanda Thirsk talked him round
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.’
Credit is due to Newsnight for landing the interview, but in particular to Samantha McAlister, a former barrister turned TV producer
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.’