Prince Andrew’s BBC Newsnight interviewer Emily Maitlis had made a stark prediction almost six years on from the royal’s interview over his links to Jeffreyy Epstein. Andrew, 65, invited Emily into the palace for an in depth conversation in November 2019 about his friendship with the late sex offender Epstein and allegations that he had had sex with a 17-year-old trafficking victim – a claim that he has strongly repeatedly denied.
By the end of Ms Maitlis’s interview with the royal, his reputation was ruined, with Andrew annoucing shortly afterwards that he was to step away from public duties. Maitlis has now predicted that more careers would be ruined by the Epstein story.
During an interview with British radio station LBC, she said: “I mean, the number of people that have ended up lying for Epstein, whose careers have ended up in absolute tatters because of their connection to him.
“I think we’re at the tip of the iceberg, I genuinely do.”
Ms Maitlis’s comments come after Andrew previously told her about his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in prison in August 2019.
Andrew, at the time, said: “I ceased contact with him after I was aware that he was under investigation and that was later in 2006 and I wasn’t in touch with him again until 2010.”
Andrew was later pictured with Epstein walking through Central Park in New York City in December 2010, with emails exchanged between two took of them, dated February 2011, later coming to light.
Ms Maitlis has since said: “The narrative from Andrew had always been, after I realised who he was, you know, broadly, I ended contact with him.
“Now, that doesn’t match up because in 2008 [Epstein had] already been a convicted sex offender, he’d served his short prison sentence. And Prince Andrew had told me that he’d broken off contact in 2006, but actually he hadn’t.
“We still don’t know the absolute truth even behind that photo taken in Central Park,” she added. “But much of the reporting has suggested that it was very useful to Epstein because it provided, sort of, kompromat. It links him.”