Emily Maitlis has claimed the late Queen Elizabeth "knew how bad Prince Andrew's Newsnight interview went" before he did.
The now infamous interview, which took place in 2019, was Andrew's way of attempting to clear himself of wrongdoing regarding his association with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. A new documentary, set to be broadcast in the run-up to King Charles' Coronation, has taken a look back at the interview, which was led by former BBC presenter and journalist Emily Maitlis.
In the new documentary, former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister claims that Prince Andrew was "euphoric" following the interview, as he felt it had "gone really well" - but others were less convinced.
In fact, it has been claimed that the late Queen realised how bad the interview was before Andrew had.
Speaking in a new Channel 4 documentary, she said: "It was only on the Saturday when the Queen had reportedly read the whole transcript that he had received a tap on the shoulder by his security detail.
"And they had said, 'I think, sir, you might have to come with us.' It was after the Queen had seen what the interview contained that I think it dawned on her, before it dawned on him."
Following the interview with the BBC, Andrew was eventually stripped of his royal patronages and military links. He has always denied any wrongdoing in the case and claims brought against him.
In the new interview, Emily revealed she was completely "shocked" by the answers he gave, describing it as "a tidal wave of bad answers" and she said she needed to process what had just happened.
"This is how I know that Prince Andrew is happy with the interview because he stayed chatting. He seemed very jolly. A whole load of people came in and I said, 'What's going on?'" she shared in the interview.
"They said, 'OK, Thursday evenings we have the cinema night at the palace. You can stay if you want.' And at that point, I just thought, 'I've got to get away from here. I needed the space to work out what just happened.'"
In the interview, Andrew declined to say he regretted the friendship with Epstein, with his memorable answers including details of his visit to Pizza Express with daughter Princess Beatrice and saying he was medically unable to sweat.
