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

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

• Prince Andrew was interviewed by Emily Maitlis about his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
• Now the interviewer has penned an essay about the interview, revealing the moment that ‘changed everything’.
• This follows royal news (opens in new tab) that Duchess Camilla praised by royal fans as she pens touching article about important cause (opens in new tab).

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

Now the interviewer, Emily Maitlis, has written an essay for The Guardian (opens in new tab) 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.’

‘“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.’