Prince Andrew ‘may have given the disastrous Newsnight interview to help his daughter Beatrice’, presenter Emily Maitlis reveals in a new Channel 4 documentary
- Maybe Andrew was thinking of his daughter when he agreed to Newsnight
- Interviewer Emily Maitlis shared her thoughts in a Channel 4 documentary
Yesterday, her interviewer, Emily Maitlis, said Prince Andrew may have made a disastrous appearance on Newsnight in an attempt to help his daughter, Princess Beatrice.
The Duke of York brought his eldest daughter for behind-the-scenes negotiations with the BBC team behind the interview, journalist Miss Maitlis and producer Sam McAllister.
Miss Maitlis said she thought at the time that he might have agreed to talk in an effort to make amends with his daughter, who had recently been engaged to her current husband, Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi.
She told the Channel 4 documentary: ‘It’s the first time it occurred to me that he might have been doing this for her.
Your life was hell. You should have read these headlines. You are trying to get married. I will do this to make it better for you. I don’t know if this is true, but it just crossed my mind.
The Duke of York speaks for the first time about his links to Jeffrey Epstein in an interview with BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis.
Princess Beatrice with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
Producer Miss McAlister said the Duke announced he had brought someone with him to the negotiations, and she said she thought he meant a lawyer.
She told the documentary: ‘Instead his daughter Princess Beatrice comes around the corner. That was really one of the curveballs.
Can you imagine being in Buckingham Palace to talk to a member of the royal family about sexual crimes? this is very difficult. And now I have to do it in front of his daughter.
Miss McAllister had previously described how Beatrice took notes on a clipboard at the meeting and looked “worried”.
The princess is set to appear in the new Netflix drama that details preparation for a Newsnight interview given by the Duke of York, Telegraph reports.
The Duke and Duchess of York with their daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie
Actress Charity Wakefield will play Beatrice in Scoop, which also stars Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis, Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew and Billie Piper as the BBC produces Sam McAllister.
The film follows Sam McAllister, who manages to land a surprise interview about Prince Andrews with Jeffrey Epstein that is widely believed to have backfired.
Ms McAllister revealed the role of Beatrice in an ITV This Morning interview two years after the Newsnight interview aired.
She said, “The only thing worse than talking to a potential interviewee about allegations of sexual impropriety and having sex with a 17-year-old is for him to do it in front of his daughter.”
