How Andrew's ‘Lack of Visible Remorse’ Helped Make Newsnight Interview a ‘Disaster’

EXCLUSIVE: The producer behind the infamous 2019 broadcast admitted there was one aspect which may follow Andrew for the rest of his life

BARELY a day goes by when Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s disastrous interview on BBC Newsnight does not get a mention.

The former Prince famously stepped away from royal duties shortly after his infamous conversation with Emily Maitlis was broadcast in which he failed to express regret for his friendship with Epstein. On the record he stated: "The people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn, either by him or because of him, were actually very useful."

In his statement released afterward, he admitted that his association with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein became a “major distraction” to the work of the Royal Family.

Sam McAlister was the producer who secured the interview for the BBC after personal negotiations with Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk. Now, she’s opened up to the Royal Observer on the impact of the famous broadcast, as she reflects on the one element that was missing.

McAlister admitted to me: “The thing that you were waiting to hear was regret, some form of remorse. Obviously, that's difficult legally. You have to say sorry without attracting some form of litigation or liability. But some form of distancing from Epstein, some kind of regret at the friendship. So, on that basic level, I think of an average person watching that, that would be your expectation, and that was certainly not forthcoming in any way whatsoever.”

It was an absolute disaster, and that lack ... of visible remorse was definitely part of thatSam McAlister

Sam’s best-selling book Scoops detailed her career at the UK public broadcaster, which included her visits to Buckingham Palace. Part of her story was later dramatized on Netflix in the Primetime Emmy Award nominated film Scoop, starring Billie Piper, Rufus Sewell and Gillian Anderson. Now, the media star reflected on the legacy of the famous chat, as she thinks the public were looking to see explicit regret of the highly publicised connection with the disgraced late financier.

She told me: “For the court of public opinion, which is the only court really that we're looking at with journalism, and that court was very upset that there was not some kind of firm outpouring of regret at the friendship, a firm outpouring of regret for what had happened to Virginia Giuffre some kind of regret for other victims.” Adding: Those things were really missing.”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor strenuously denies any and all allegations of criminal wrongdoing. However, McAlister thinks that although he had intentions of using the interview to clear his name, he didn’t fully comprehend what the public wanted to see from him.  

“One of the reasons why this became so famous because of the space between his intention and what was needed, if you like, to communicate a modicum of remorse and to make this situation, better to use the term advisedly for him, which was his intention,” she told the Royal Observer. "Ultimately, that's why famous, powerful people do interviews because they want to improve their situation, clarify something difficult or traumatic, or advance themselves towards a better outcome."

She added: “Those would have been his intentions, but the way that he went about communicating it meant that it was an absolute disaster, and that lack, if you like, of visible remorse was definitely part of that.” Since 2019, hundreds of documents have been released by the US Department of Justice in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.

Information from those files appears to contradict some of what Andrew stated on the record to the BBC. In his interview, the former Prince stated that he cut communication off with the sex offender in December 2010, yet emails that were released appeared to show the pair communicating over email in a somewhat friendly manner into the following year.

King Charles later announced his intentions to strip Andrew of all his titles, which included the title of Prince, the style of Royal Highness (HRH) and all his peerages include the Duke Of York. His royal honours were also revoked including the Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. 

McAlister thinks that the stories will continue to follow him for the rest of his life. She told me: “[There are] kind of like almost hundreds of stories over the past few years of either sort of like you know allegations of bad-tempered behaviour of things of that kind, and they just come every day."

Adding: “Clearly a lot of people have very strong views on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his behaviour and behaviours over many, many years, and there will be another headline tomorrow and next week, and probably for the rest of his life.”