Content warning: The below story contains references to suicide. This content may be triggering for some readers.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continues to hit the headlines. Newly released emails contained in the Epstein files appear to catch the former Prince Andrew in a lie when it comes to answers given during his BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019. Now, the award-winning journalist has responded to Andrew's alleged lies and "excuses."
In a new article written for The I, Maitlis explained, "In a letter written in 2015 to Epstein [Ghislaine Maxwell] confirms that [Epstein and Andrew accuser] Virginia Giuffre met 'a number of friends of mine including [the former] Prince Andrew. A photograph was taken as I imagine she wanted to show it to friends and family.'"
Andrew has previously denied that the photo of him posing with Giuffre and Maxwell was real: "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken," he said on Newsnight in 2019 (via NBC News).
However, Maxwell's email within the Epstein files appears to confirm Prince Andrew did, in fact, meet Giuffre and pose with her for the picture, just as she previously asserted.
Writing in The I, Maitlis shared, "For years, Mountbatten-Windsor and those around him denied the photograph was real. In the week before my interview with him, his assistant suggested we set out to 'prove it was a fake.' A doctored piece of evidence set up to smear him."
"I remember feeing utterly baffled, headached, by the multitude of excuses," Maitlis said of Andrew's on-air protestations. "He was trying to explain that he couldn't recall it but it was definitely him, but it wasn't his hand."
As for why the alleged lie is so important, Maitlis wrote, "The photograph—taken at Virginia's request—for a young girl to send to her mom because she'd just met a prince—was one of the few pieces of hard evidence she had."
The journalist elaborated, "By rubbishing the photo, he discredited the victim. He allowed the seed to be implanted in our minds that if the photo were proved fake, the girl would be too. Trailer trash? Gold-digger? Perhaps he was the victim here."
As a result, the alleged confirmation of the credibility of the notorious photo disproves even more of Andrew's claims. "Maxwell's unwitting acknowledgment of the photo's existence anchors Mountbatten-Windsor to that scene," Maitlis said.
Tragically, Giuffre is no longer alive to experience the vindication of having the photograph verified on a world stage—she died by suicide in April 2025. But hopefully her family can take some solace from the fact that the truth is finally coming to light.
