"Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal" | |
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Newsnight episode | |
![]() Photo by Mark Harrison | |
Presented by | Emily Maitlis |
Cinematography by | Mark Harrison |
Original air date | 16 November 2019 |
"Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal" is an episode of the BBC's news and current affairs programme Newsnight broadcast on BBC Two on 16 November 2019. In the 58-minute programme, Prince Andrew, Duke of York was interviewed by Emily Maitlis about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender. This was Andrew's first time publicly recounting his friendship with Epstein. [1]
In the interview, Andrew says he met Epstein in 1999 through Maxwell; this contradicts comments made by Andrew's private secretary in 2011, who said the two met in "the early 1990s". [2] The Duke also said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, saying "the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful". [3]
In the interview, Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre on 10 March 2001, as she had accused, because he had been at home with his daughters after attending a party at PizzaExpress in Woking with his elder daughter Beatrice. [4] [5] Prince Andrew also added that Giuffre's claims about dancing with him at Tramp while he was sweaty were false due to him temporarily losing the ability to sweat after an "adrenaline overdose" during the Falklands War. [6] [7] According to physicians consulted by The Times , an adrenaline overdose typically causes excessive sweating in humans. [8] He also said that he does not drink, despite Giuffre's account of him providing alcohol for them both. [9] [10] Accounts from other people have supported his statement that he does not drink. [11] [12] [13]
Andrew said that he had stayed in Epstein's mansion for three days in 2010, after Epstein's conviction for sex offences against a minor, describing the location as "a convenient place to stay". The Duke said that he met Epstein for the sole purpose of breaking off any future relationship with him. [14] He also said that he would be willing to testify under oath regarding his associations with Epstein. [3] A series of emails published as part of a civil case in 2023 included snippets showing Andrew, Epstein and Jes Staley exchanging emails, which suggested that the Duke was in contact with Epstein on several occasions in 2010. [15] Another series of emails published in court documents from a different civil case showed that in February 2011 Epstein was in contact with a "member of the British Royal Family", believed to be Andrew. [16]
The interview was believed by Maitlis and Newsnight to have been approved by the Queen, [17] although "palace insiders" speaking to The Sunday Telegraph disputed this. [18] One of Andrew's official advisors resigned just prior to the interview being aired. [19] Although Andrew was pleased with the outcome of the interview – reportedly giving Maitlis and the Newsnight team a tour of Buckingham Palace [20] – it received negative reactions from both the media and the public, both in and outside of the UK. The interview was described as a "car crash", "nuclear explosion level bad", [21] [22] and the worst public relations crisis for the royal family since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Experts and those with ties to Buckingham Palace said that the interview, its fallout and the abrupt suspension of Andrew's royal duties were unprecedented. [23] In May 2020, it was announced that Andrew would indefinitely withdraw from his public roles. [24]
Andrew was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18 in 2008. BBC News reported in March 2011 that the friendship was producing "a steady stream of criticism", and there were calls for him to step down from his role as trade envoy. [25] Andrew was also criticised in the media after his former wife, Sarah, disclosed that he helped arrange for Epstein to pay off £15,000 of her debts. [26] [27] Andrew had been photographed in December 2010 strolling with Epstein in Central Park during a visit to New York City. [28] In July 2011, Andrew's role as trade envoy was terminated and he reportedly cut all ties with Epstein. [25] [29]
On 30 December 2014, a Florida court filing by lawyers Bradley J. Edwards and Paul G. Cassell alleged that Andrew was one of several prominent figures, including lawyer Alan Dershowitz and "a former prime minister", [30] to have participated in sexual activities with a minor later identified as Virginia Giuffre (then known by her maiden name Virginia Roberts), [31] who was allegedly trafficked by Epstein. [32] An affidavit from Giuffre was included in an earlier lawsuit from 2008 accusing the US Justice Department of violating the Crime Victims' Rights Act during Epstein's first criminal case by not allowing several of his victims to challenge his plea deal; Andrew was otherwise not a party to the lawsuit. [33]
In January 2015, there was renewed media and public pressure for Buckingham Palace to explain Andrew's connection with Epstein. [34] Buckingham Palace stated that "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue", and later repeated the denial. [35] [36] Requests from Giuffre's lawyers for a statement from Andrew about the allegations, under oath, were returned unanswered. [37] [38]
Giuffre asserted that she had sex with Andrew on three occasions, including a trip to London in 2001 when she was 17, [39] and later in New York and on Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands. [28] She alleged Epstein paid her $15,000 after she had sex with Andrew in London. [39] Flight logs show Andrew and Giuffre were in the places she alleged their meetings took place. [40] [41] Andrew and Giuffre were also photographed together with his arm around her waist, with an Epstein associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in the background, [42] though Andrew's supporters have repeatedly said the photo is fake and edited. [43] Giuffre stated that she was pressured to have sex with Andrew and "wouldn't have dared object" as Epstein, through contacts, could have her "killed or abducted". [44]
On 7 April 2015, Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that the "sex allegations made against Andrew in court papers filed in Florida must be struck from the public record". [45] [46] Marra made no ruling as to whether claims by Giuffre are true or false, specifically stating that she may later give evidence when the case comes to court. [47]
Juan "John" Alessi, who was Epstein's butler, stated in a deposition he filed for Giuffre's 2016 defamation case against Maxwell that Andrew's hitherto unremarked visits to the Epstein house in Palm Beach were more frequent than previously thought. He maintained that Andrew "spent weeks with us" and received "daily massages". [48]
In August 2019, court documents associated with a defamation case between Giuffre and Maxwell revealed that a second girl, Johanna Sjoberg, gave evidence alleging that Andrew had placed his hand on her breast while in Epstein's mansion posing for a photo with his Spitting Image puppet. [49] Later that month, Andrew released a statement that said, "At no stage during the limited time I spent with [Epstein] did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction", though he expressed regret for meeting him in 2010 after Epstein had already pleaded guilty to sex crimes for the first time. [50] At the end of August 2019, The New Republic published a September 2013 email exchange between John Brockman and Evgeny Morozov, in which Brockman mentioned seeing a British man nicknamed "Andy" receive a foot massage from two Russian women at Epstein's New York residence during his last visit to the mansion in 2010, and had realised "that the recipient of Irina's foot massage was His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York". [51]
In November 2019, the BBC's Newsnight arranged an interview between Prince Andrew and Emily Maitlis in which he publicly recounted his dealings with Epstein for the first time. The interview was recorded in Buckingham Palace on 14 November and broadcast on 16 November. [52]
Prince Andrew said that he met Epstein in 1999 through Ghislaine Maxwell; this version contradicts the account given by the Duke's private secretary in 2011, who said the two met in "the early 1990s". [53] The Duke said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, saying "the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful". [54]
Prince Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre on 10 March 2001, as she had claimed, because he said that he had been at home with his daughters after attending a party at PizzaExpress in Woking with his elder daughter, Princess Beatrice. [55] [56] The Duke said that he had "no recollection of ever meeting" Giuffre, [57] and that he had "absolutely no memory" of a photograph taken of him with Giuffre at Ghislaine Maxwell's residence in London. The Duke said he had investigations carried out to establish whether the photograph was faked, but they had been inconclusive. [58] He also claimed that he had never been upstairs in Maxwell's house and questioned his attire, saying that the clothes he wore in the photograph were his "travelling clothes" that he did not wear while in the country. [59]
Prince Andrew also added that Giuffre's claims about dancing with him at Tramp while he was sweaty were false due to his having temporarily lost the ability to sweat after an "adrenaline overdose" during the Falklands War. [60] "Several doctors" told The Times they did not believe this explanation, as adrenaline overdose typically causes excessive sweating in humans. It has been previously said that his mother Elizabeth II has not been seen sweating in public, raising the possibility of inherited anhidrosis (although this was not the explanation given by the Duke). [61]
Prince Andrew admitted to staying in Epstein's mansion for three days in 2010, after Epstein's conviction for sex offences against a minor, describing the location as "a convenient place to stay". However, he said, "I kick myself on a daily basis" for the decision "because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family", adding that he "let the side down". [54] The Duke said that he met Epstein for the sole purpose of breaking off any future relationship with him, saying that it was "the honourable and right thing to do". He said of himself that he was "too honourable" a person. [62] He also said that, if "push came to shove" (and after consultation with his legal teams), he would be willing to testify under oath regarding his associations with Epstein. [54]
Maitlis and Newsnight believed the interview was approved by Queen Elizabeth II, [63] although "palace insiders" speaking to The Sunday Telegraph disputed this. [64] One of Prince Andrew's official advisors, who opposed the interview, resigned just before it took place. [65] Although the Duke was pleased with the interview – reportedly giving Maitlis and the Newsnight team a tour of Buckingham Palace [66] – it received negative reactions from both the media and the public, both in and outside the UK. The interview was described as a "car crash", "nuclear explosion level bad", [67] [68] and the worst public relations crisis for the royal family since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. [69]
Hannah Bardell, then the MP for Livingston, called the interview "sickening" and stated, "Prince Andrew literally has no remorse or regard for the women abused and clearly does not see the problem with being pals with Epstein ... The systematic abuse of power is unbelievable." [70] The Guardian wrote, "It was an exchange that summed up a grotesque mismatch between the Duke of York's language and demeanour, and the gravity of the allegations which continue to surround him; between the obtuse self-absorption of a prince and what we know of the appalling sexual exploitation of teenage girls by his friend." [71]
In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in the federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing him of "sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress". The lawsuit was filed under New York's Child Victims Act, legislation extending the statute of limitations where the plaintiff had been under 18 at the time, 17 in Giuffre's case. [72] On 29 October 2021, Andrew's lawyers filed a response, stating that their client "unequivocally denies Giuffre's false allegations". [73] [74] On 12 January 2022 Judge Kaplan rejected Andrew's attempts to dismiss the case, allowing the sexual abuse lawsuit to proceed. [75] [76] In February, the case was settled out of court, with Andrew making a donation to Giuffre's charity for victims of abuse. [77] Criminal proceedings in the United States over Virginia Giuffre's claims remained possible. [78]
On 20 November 2019, a statement from Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew was suspending his public duties "for the foreseeable future". The decision, made with the consent of the Queen, was accompanied by the insistence that Andrew sympathised with Epstein's victims. [79] Other working royals took over his commitments in the short term. [80] On 24 November, the palace confirmed that Andrew was to step down from all 230 of his patronages, although he expressed a wish to have some sort of public role at some future time. [81]
On 16 January 2020, it was reported that the Home Office was recommending "a major downgrade of security" for Andrew, which would put an end to "his round-the-clock armed police protection". [82] On 28 January 2020, US Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated that Prince Andrew had provided "zero co-operation" with federal prosecutors and the FBI regarding the ongoing investigations, despite his initial promise in the Newsnight interview when he said he was willing to help the authorities. [83] Sources close to Andrew said that he "hasn't been approached" by US authorities and investigators, [84] and his legal team announced that he had offered to be a witness "on at least three occasions" but had been refused by the Department of Justice. [85] The US authorities responded to the claim and denied being approached by Andrew for an interview and labeled his statements as a way "to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate". [86] Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, said Andrew could be arrested if he ever returns to the United States. [87]
In March 2020, Andrew hired crisis-management expert Mark Gallagher, who had helped high-profile clients falsely accused by Operation Midland. [88] In April 2020, it was reported that the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy would not be played anymore, after all activities carried out by the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust were stopped. [89] In May 2020 it was announced that Andrew would permanently resign from all public roles over his Epstein ties. [90]
In June 2020, it became known that Andrew is a person of interest in a criminal investigation in the United States, and that the United States had filed a mutual legal assistance request to British authorities in order to question Andrew. [91] [92] Following the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell in July 2020, Andrew cancelled a planned trip to Spain, reportedly due to fears that he might be arrested and extradited to the United States. [93] In the 2019 BBC interview, Andrew told Newsnight his association with Epstein was derived from his long-standing friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted of colluding in Epstein's sexual abuse. [94]
In August 2020, anti-child trafficking protesters chanting "Paedophile! Paedophile!" referencing Andrew gathered outside Buckingham Palace, and videos of the protest went viral. [95] In 2020, prosecutors seeking access to Andrew made a formal mutual legal assistance request to the British government. [96] In early 2021 there were at least two trespassing incidents reported at his Windsor property, and in December he was verbally abused by a woman as he was driving. [97]
In January 2022, Andrew's social media accounts were deleted, his page on the royal family's website was rewritten in the past tense and his military affiliations and patronages were removed to put an emphasis on his departure from public life. [98] He also stopped using the style His Royal Highness (HRH), though it was not formally removed. [99] In the same month, York Racecourse announced that it would rename the Duke of York Stakes, [100] and Prince Andrew High School in Nova Scotia, which had announced two years earlier that it was considering a name change, [101] stated that it would have a new name at the next academic year. [102] In February 2022, Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly decided not to fly a union flag for Andrew's birthday. [103] In the same month, the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council announced that they would hold a debate in June 2022 regarding a motion to rename Prince Andrew Way in Carrickfergus. [104] On 27 April 2022 York City Council unanimously voted to remove Andrew's Freedom of the City. [105] Rachael Maskell York Central MP said Andrew was the "first to ever have their freedom removed". [106] In June 2022, Maskell introduced a 'Removal of Titles' private members bill in the House of Commons. [107] The bill would have enabled people considered unworthy to be stripped of aristocratic titles, which is not presently possible without an act of Parliament. The monarch or a committee of Parliament would have been able to remove a title instead. [108] [107]
In March 2022, Andrew made his first official appearance in months, helping the Queen to walk into Westminster Abbey for a memorial service for his father, the Duke of Edinburgh. [109] There was a mixed reaction by commentators to his presence, with some saying that it would send the wrong message to victims of sexual abuse "about how powerful men are able to absolve themselves from their conduct" and others arguing that his appearance was required as "a son, in memory of his father". [110]
In June 2022, Andrew took part in private aspects of the Garter Day ceremony, including lunch and investiture of new members, but was excluded from the public procession following an intervention by his brother Charles and his nephew William that banned him from appearing anywhere the public could see him. [111]
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, Andrew appeared in civilian clothing at various ceremonial events. [112] As he walked behind his mother's coffin in a funeral procession in Edinburgh on 12 September, a 22-year-old man shouted "Andrew, you're a sick old man"; the heckler was arrested and charged with committing a breach of the peace. [113] Andrew wore military uniform for a 15-minute vigil by the Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall on 16 September. [114]
In October 2022, it was reported that Andrew no longer received any government funding. [115] In November 2022, it was reported that he was set to lose his police protection as he was no longer expected to carry out public duties in accordance with the King's wishes. [116] In December 2022, The Telegraph reported that Andrew had written to the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police to complain about the situation. [117] His armed personal protection officers were expected to be replaced by private security guards, who are likely to be paid for by the King, at an estimated cost of up to £3 million a year. [117] In January 2023, it was reported that he could no longer use his suite of rooms at Buckingham Palace. [118] In August 2024, The Telegraph reported that the King would be withdrawing funds for Andrew's security by the end of October, which would require him to pay for future security operations at his Royal Lodge home. [119]
In July 2020, Caroline Kaufman, an alleged victim of Epstein, said in a federal lawsuit that she had seen Andrew at Epstein's New York mansion in December 2010. [120] In November 2021 Lawrence Visoski, Epstein's pilot, testified in court during Ghislaine Maxwell's trial that Prince Andrew flew in Epstein's private plane along with other prominent individuals, including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and John Glenn. Visoski stated he did not notice any sexual activity or wrongdoing on the plane. [121] Similarly, Andrew's name was recorded on 12 May 2001 by Epstein's pilot David Rodgers in his logbook, and he testified that Andrew flew three times with Epstein and Giuffre in 2001. [122] The following month a picture of Epstein and Maxwell, sitting at a cabin on the Queen's Balmoral estate, around 1999, at the invitation of Andrew, was shown to the jury to establish their status as partners. [123]
On 5 January 2022, Virginia Giuffre's former boyfriend, Anthony Figueroa, said on Good Morning Britain that Giuffre told him Epstein would take her to meet Prince Andrew. He alleged the meeting had taken place in London. [124] In a court filing, Andrew's lawyers had previously referred to a statement by Figueroa's sister, Crystal Figueroa, who alleged that in her bid to find victims for Epstein, Giuffre had asked her, "Do you know any girls who are kind of slutty?" [125] The same month, Carolyn Andriano, who as a 14-year-old was introduced by Giuffre to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and was a prosecution witness in Maxwell's trial, said in an interview with the Daily Mail that then 17-year-old Giuffre told her in 2001 that she had slept with Prince Andrew. She stated, "And [Giuffre] said, 'I got to sleep with him'. She didn't seem upset about it. She thought it was pretty cool." [126]
In an ITV documentary, former royal protection officer Paul Page, who was convicted and given a six year sentence following a £3 million property investment scam in 2009, [127] [128] recounted Maxwell's frequent visits to Buckingham Palace, and suggested the two might have had an intimate relationship, [129] while Lady Victoria Hervey added that Andrew was present at social occasions held by Maxwell. [130] The Duke of York's name and contact numbers for Buckingham Palace, Sunninghill Park, Wood Farm and Balmoral also appeared in Maxwell and Epstein's 'Little Black Book', a list of contacts of the duo's powerful and famous friends. [130] In February 2022, The Daily Telegraph published a photograph of Andrew along with Maxwell giving a tour of Buckingham Palace to Andrew's guests Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey, with a member of the tour party describing Maxwell as "the one who led us into Buckingham Palace". [131]
In October 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was interviewed by a documentary filmmaker while serving her sentence in prison, and when asked about her relationship with Andrew, Maxwell stated that she felt "bad" for him but accepted their "friendship could not survive my conviction. He is paying such a price for the association. I consider him a dear friend. I care about him." [132] She also stated that she now believed the photograph showing her together with Andrew and Virginia Giuffre was not "a true image", and added that in an email to her lawyer in 2015 she was trying to confirm that she recognised her own house, but the whole image cannot be authentic as "the original has never been produced". [132] In another interview from prison, she said the photo was "a fake … there's never been an original and further there is no photograph. I've only ever seen a photocopy of it." [133] Following the allegations, The Mail on Sunday , which first published the photograph in 2011, was contacted by photographer Michael Thomas who took 39 copies of the image, both front and back. The back of the photo has a time stamp showing it was developed on 13 March 2001 – three days after Andrew allegedly engaged in sexual activity with Giuffre – and it was printed at a one-hour photo lab at Walgreens in Florida, near Giuffre's former home. [134]
Giuffre had said that on the first night she allegedly had sex with Andrew they got into the bath where "he started licking my toes, between my toes, the arches of my feet" before they went into the bedroom and had sex. [135] She repeated this statement in a 2019 BBC interview. [135] She described the bathroom in her unpublished memoir, stating "It was a beige marble tiled floor with a porcelain Victorian-style bathtub in the middle of the room." [135] In January 2023, Ghislaine Maxwell's brother Ian Maxwell disputed Giuffre's account by releasing photos showing his acquaintances sitting in the bathtub where the incident allegedly took place. [135] The photos were originally reserved as a defense for Ghislaine Maxwell's legal team if Giuffre was asked to testify. [135] Ian Maxwell said the photos "show conclusively that the bath is too small for any sort of sex frolicking. There is no 'Victorian bath', as Giuffre had claimed, which is proved both by the attached plan of the bathroom and the photos themselves." [135]
In January 2024, a series of documents related to Epstein were released by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, including a motion from 2015 by two women which described Andrew having sexual relations with one of them – speculated to be Giuffre – at Maxwell's flat in London, in New York, and on Epstein's private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands "in an orgy with numerous other underaged girls". [136] In a separate document, Maxwell recalled Andrew visiting Epstein's private island only once, adding there were no girls or women there other than the staff. [136] She also stated that she had "no recollection" as to whether she introduced Andrew to Giuffre. [137] In another unsealed document, Juan Alessi, who worked at Epstein's Palm Beach residence, stated under oath that Andrew "spent weeks with us" and had "daily massages". [138] Another deposition contained references to Johanna Sjoberg's statement that Andrew had groped her breast while she was sitting on his lap. [136] [139] The Metropolitan Police announced that they would not be launching an investigation into the allegations but would assess "new and relevant" information should any come to light. [137]
In a 2025 interview with the U.S. Department of Justice, Maxwell said she had not introduced Andrew to Epstein and described Giuffre's allegations as "rubbish". [140] She further said the photograph showing her with Andrew was "literally a fake". Maxwell asserted she was not present at the time of the alleged incident and questioned the physical plausibility of the account. [141] Her remarks were published in DOJ transcripts. [142]
Maitlis won the Network Presenter of the Year award at the RTS Television Journalism Awards in 2020, while the interview was awarded as the Interview of the Year and the Scoop of the Year. [143]
The episode and production team were nominated in the news coverage category at the 2020 British Academy Television Awards. [144]
In 2022, The Kunts published a song ridiculing Andrew's claim that he cannot sweat, and his claim that he was at Pizza Express Woking; it is entitled "Prince Andrew Is a Sweaty Nonce" and reached No. 20 in the UK charts. [145]
Sam McAlister, among the producers of Newsnight, published a memoir Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interviews (2022), about her role in getting the interview with Prince Andrew and related issues. In July 2022, it was announced that a film would be adapted from her book. Shooting started in early 2023. [146] Titled Scoop , it was written by Peter Moffat and directed by Philip Martin. [147] [148] Starring Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell, it was released in 2024 and is available on Netflix. The television miniseries A Very Royal Scandal was released later that year. [149]
A US judge has ruled that sex allegations made against Prince Andrew in court papers filed in Florida must be struck from the public record.
A US judge has ordered that "lurid" sex allegations made against Prince Andrew and which led to a major crisis for the member of the royal family, be struck from the record