Hats off to Newsnight. BBC 2’s flagship political show bagged itself an almighty royal scoop. Emily Maitlis was given an hour to quiz Prince Andrew about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex-offender who was found dead in his jail cell in August. The first bombshell of the night was the news that months of negotiation had led up to this stage-managed encounter in a Buckingham Palace drawing room. ‘Normally we’d be discussing your work,’ opened Maitlis, as if her main ambition in life is to cover the potterings of minor royals.
‘We’ve been talking to Newsnight for about six months,’ agreed the prince, ‘about doing something around the work that I was doing … and actually it’s very good opportunity and I’m delighted to be able to see you today.’
Having dispensed with the fake-news about the prince’s ‘work’, Maitlis moved on to the killer-topic – Epstein. What followed was a glorious blend of the embarrassing, the questionable and the downright nutty.
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