Back in November 2019, I covered all of the stuff in and around Prince Andrew’s trainwreck Newsnight interview, where he spoke about his friendships with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and came across like an arrogant buffoon who couldn’t be bothered to show sympathy for the girls and women abused by his friends (much less abused by Andrew). The interview landed like a bomb, but for days afterwards, Buckingham Palace did nothing but give vaguely positive off-the-record briefings about how Andrew was pleased with the interview, and how he told his mother that it was a “great success.” Then-Prince Charles was traveling overseas when the interview dropped, and he had to call his mother and tell her that this could not continue and that Andrew needed to be put out in the cold. Charles was the one driving Andrew to “step down” from royal life. Well, what if the entire thing was a huge scheme by Charles?
On the eve of Amazon Prime’s screening of Emily Maitlis’s account of her demolition of Prince Andrew, she claims Charles approved of the interview which directly led to his brother’s banishment from royal duties.
Maitlis, executive producer of A Very Royal Scandal, tells the Radio Times: ‘One month after the interview aired, I was taken aside by someone close to [then] Prince Charles and told – somewhat cryptically – that ‘HRH was not unhappy with the interview’.
‘Was I being told that the man who would ascend to the throne just three years later as our King was perhaps relieved that this exchange had taken place? That he could use the opportunity to reorder the monarchy in a way that befitted these times and the public perception of what it should be?’ Deep waters, Emily.
I mean… Charles knew that the Epstein stuff was out there, and that Andrew’s issues were just waiting to be exposed in a larger way. I think it was more of a happy accident for Charles – his brother imploded on national television, and Charles made his move and took care of “the Andrew problem” for a while. It was opportunistic from Charles, but I doubt it was a “relief,” especially since this was all happening as the Sussexes were detangling themselves from the monarchy too. But sure, Charles wasn’t “unhappy” that Andrew ruined himself.
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- 166873, Charles, Prince of Wales and Duke of York at the funeral of Countess Mountbatten of Burma at St.Paul’s church in Knightsbridge. London, United Kingdom – Tuesday June 27, 2017. UK, FRANCE, AUS, NZ, CHINA, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SPAIN & ITALY OUT Photograph: © Stephen Lock, i-Images, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE,Image: 533054254, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- King Charles III during a visit to the Senedd in Cardiff, to mark its 25th anniversary.,Image: 889057800, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ben Birchall / Avalon
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- Death Of HM Queen Elizabeth II-Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles’ Cathedral Sophie Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex, Prince Andrew the Duke of York, King Charles III, Camilla Queen Consort, Princess Anne the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence during a Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. Featuring: Sophie Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward, Prince Andrew, King Charles III, Camilla Queen Consort, Princess Anne Where: Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom When: 12 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- Death Of HM Queen Elizabeth II: Royal Family Holds Vigil At St Giles’ Cathedral King Charles III and other members of the royal family hold a vigil at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, in honour of Queen Elizabeth II as members of the public walk past. Featuring: Princess Anne, King Charles III, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward Where: Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom When: 12 Sep 2022 Credit: Jane Barlow/PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- Emily Maitlis interviews the Duke of York, Prince Andrew on his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Newsnight. Broadcast on BBC Two Featuring: Duke of York, Prince Andrew When: 16 Nov 2019 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.**
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- Emily Maitlis interviews the Duke of York, Prince Andrew on his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Newsnight. Broadcast on BBC Two Featuring: Duke of York, Prince Andrew When: 16 Nov 2019 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.**
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- Emily Maitlis interviews the Duke of York, Prince Andrew on his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Newsnight. Broadcast on BBC Two Featuring: Duke of York, Prince Andrew When: 16 Nov 2019 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.**
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- Emily Maitlis interviews the Duke of York, Prince Andrew on his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Newsnight. Broadcast on BBC Two Featuring: Duke of York, Prince Andrew When: 16 Nov 2019 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.**
This is so gross, it makes me ill. The actual women trafficked and abused by Epstein and Prince Andrew, the “subject” of this interview, treated as nothing more than PR proxy for royal infighting. The way this is written, including Maitlis, just soulless people. I’m sure that the victims who have still not received any real justice besides Ghislaine’s conviction, feel respected knowing the UK media is all agog about whether their suffering and Andrew’s total sneering disregard of them presented an “opportunity to reorder the monarchy”
Disgusting
There was an interview with Maitlis maybe a year or 2 after the interview and she talked about feeling some guilt and regrets about the interview….bc it must have been terribly hard for the york princesses. And I just. Like I’m sure it was. It must’ve sucked for them. But you know I’m gonna carry more concern for the actual victims of trafficking. Idk it was just such a weird thing to say. The story really is wrapped up in royal gossip but yeah it’s good to keep some perspective.
Maybe some of the criticism of their glee has sunk in, because I watched a very Royal scandal last night and this was brought up a few times. When she won her award someone in the audience yelled, yeah no mention of the victims huh? And then when she, I guess ran into Beatrice and Eugenie in Hyde Park, and was talking about how bad she felt because they looked like she really had hurt them, her producer was basically like yeah but they’re princesses living in London they’re not sex abuse victims in New York so……..
That is how I felt listening to Emily Maitlis’s interview with James O’Brien and the other journalist’s interviews, who got the interview and wrote a book about it. There was a glee in their tone while talking about it. I understand it is a big feat for a journalist to bring down a privileged man who abused his position, but it felt like that was all that is to these journalists. There was a little thought about victims who still didn’t get any justice. Compared them to Miami Herald journalist who broke the Epstein news in USA, there is a distinct lack of thought and empathy about victims.
Harry talked about royal reporters chasing after him and bragging about bringing down a young royal. I didn’t see much distinction between these tabloid reporters and BBC reporters here.
Emily also talked about Andrew’s bravery agreeing to sit down with her while she was interviewed by American media. She was still making sure to pamper the royal instead of being disgusted by him. They are all seeing this just as a game.
Andrew was caught at being at Epstein home in NYC before that interview . He tried to keep himself concealed but he was photographed with Epstein in central park. Lots of evidence of their association . There was a documentary about savile and Charles got actual advice from him . Charles had dubious mentors.
What a family of backbiters. So glad the Sussexes are away from that hellscape.
Andrew can live on an estate in luxury. He should have been arrested. He was actually hidden out after the f b i said they wanted to talk to him.
Chuck has made sure his nonce brother is protected, but never his youngest grandchildren. That shows you exactly who Chuck is, he and his brother are not that different PA just got caught not traveling with diplomatic immunity credentials.
At this point it might be easier to report on What KC3 is happy about 😫
Camilla? Solitude on his walks?
Mushrooms?
Fountain pens that work?
This Emily’s assumption. But I think Charles was happy to let Andrew continue as a working royal until he realized that the public didn’t see the interview they way he saw it.
I’ve read that once Philip officially retired in 2017, Andrew worked with Charles to get rid of TQ’s respected, long time private secretary Christopher Geidt, and elevate Charles’ man, the despicable Edward Young, in his place. So yes, I can believe Charles would be happy to have an excuse for shoving Andrew out of the picture, neutralizing him. At heart they’re both grifters with unsavory connections, but since Andrew has no defined role (he’s just “the spare”), and unlike Charles with the Duchy of Cornwall, had no dedicated source of income, he was always more unpredictable. Andrew seems to be protected because he knows where the bodies are buried, though his chain gets yanked every so often. It’s very Shakespearean – except in Shakespeare there would be more actual dead bodies around. Charles doesn’t appear to care particularly about his own son and grandchildren, why would we be surprised he doesn’t care about the multiple (and mostly anonymous) women harmed by Andrew?
I’m sure the numerous other men who abused Epstein’s victims are also ‘not unhappy’ about Prince Andrew’s interview and the multiple documentaries. The bigger the spotlight on him, the longer they can remain unidentified and anonymous.
I’m sure Charles was a little bothered that this brought Andrew’s misdeeds back into the spotlight, but not bothered that it gave him an out to bench Andrew permanently.
And yes, its gross that the royals would look at a person like Epstein and his sex trafficking victims as “misdeeds” or whether it helped them at all, but the royals look at things from a very different perspective. They are always the victims, not other people.
Yes, their perspective is “save the monarchy, save the gravy train.” Benching Andrew meant that Charles could remove an embarrassment while still retaining control. Perhaps he thought getting rid of Harry and Meghan would give the same result, but it turned out to be the exact opposite.
What a family.
Does the firm understand what they look like? You have William screaming he hates Harry in every article and now Charles plotted to “get rid of Andrew”. Andrew is a monster so who cares but all this makes the monarchy look like den of vipers filled with snakes who spend their time trying to hurt each other.
None of this says family, aspirational or functional.