Prince Andrew's interviewer Emily Maitlis reveals moment in the interview that 'changed everything'

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Emily Maitlis, the Newsnight journalist who interviewed Prince Andrew, has revealed the moment in the interview that 'changed everything'.

Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview aired last month and it was only a days later that he publicly announced he was stepping back from his royal duties.

Now the interviewer, Emily Maitlis, has written an essay for The Guardian where she shares the secrets behind the ‘interview of the century’, and reveals the moment that ‘changed everything’.

‘Does he regret the visit to stay with Epstein? “Yes.” Does he regret the whole friendship?’, she writes.

‘It was around 16 minutes into the interview – and it was the answer that, for me, changed everything.’

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‘“Still not,” he said. And told me of the opportunities he was given by Epstein that were “actually very useful …”

‘It was such a candid admission, such a bald refusal to play the game with any wider apology or regret. It would become the pivotal moment of the entire hour.

‘This is a man – a prince – who did not come to repent. He came to earn back his right to tell the story his way.’

She continues to say the prince was ‘unleashed’ after a ‘decade of silent frustration’.

‘Once I understood that, everything else flowed from there. Andrew was unleashed. Unstoppable. After a decade of silent frustration, he wanted to tell me everything. He paused being “a royal” and found his voice’, she continued.

‘He told me things he had no need to reveal. About his sweat problems and his trip to Woking, about his knowledge of Belgravia homes and London nightspots.’

Mariana Cerqueira

Mariana is the managing editor of woman&home. She has previously worked for lifestyle titles including GoodtoKnow covering all aspects of women’s lifestyle - from the Royal Family, beauty and fashion to wellness and travel. She was nominated for AOP Digital Journalist of the Year in 2020, and for New Digital Talent of the Year at the 2016 PPA Digital Awards. She’s mildly obsessed with TV (reality TV shows included) and spends far too much time planning her next trip away.