Ahead of the release of A Very Royal Scandal on September 19, Emily Maitlis has spoken out about her “relationship” with Prince Andrew following their infamous Newsnight interview.
Upon meeting actress Ruth Wilson, who plays Maitlis in the upcoming AmazonMGM Studios drama, the pair discussed the secrets behind the royal scoop and whether they thought the Duke of York was “guilty”.
Writing for The Times, Maitlis wrote: “She [Ruth Wilson] asks me simply, bluntly, if I think Prince Andrew is guilty. The speed of the question stops me.
“Ever since the interview, nearly five long years ago, it is one I have never articulated. I have had plenty of occasions — and more opportunity than most — to consider Andrew’s ‘guilt’, but the question has always struck me as imprecise.
“So I throw it back at Wilson. Guilty of what? And we begin to debate in earnest. I tell her there is no way I or anyone else will ever know the full truth of what happened with or to Virginia Giuffre, the trafficked Jeffrey Epstein victim who claims she was also abused by the royal.
“But he was clearly guilty of other things — his continued friendship with Epstein after his arrest, his flat-footed response to the victims of sex trafficking.”
In unsealed court documents, it was revealed that Prince Andrew “spent weeks” at sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s Florida mansion.
Juan Alessi, who managed Epstein’s residence in Palm Beach, testified that the Duke of York stayed in the guest bedroom and had daily massages.
In a 2009 deposition, Alessi told investigators that Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, were “friends” of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Duke was also filmed at the door of Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and was photographed with him in New York.
Prince Andrew has denied any misconduct and the Duchess is not accused of any wrongdoing.
Maitlis became a household name following her now-infamous Newsnight interview with Andrew about the furore, which triggered the production of A Very Royal Scandal.
Maitlis mused: “I remind her [Wilson] that in our interview he described himself as ‘too honourable’ to end his relationship with Epstein without going to stay in his Manhattan townhouse for four days. He called Epstein’s behaviour ‘unbecoming’, as if he were a smoker rather than a sex offender.
“This is not proof of Andrew’s own criminal behaviour, I explain, but it does tell us a story of power and unchecked privilege. It tells the story of a man who finds it preposterous these allegations have followed him around for nearly a decade. And perhaps it tells a story of what happens when our royals have no right of reply.”