World reacts to Prince Andrew’s bombshell interview
Resurfaced pictures from a wild party in Saint-Tropez have poked a major hole in the royal’s story amid backlash over his disastrous interview.
Prince Andrew’s claims that he “never really partied” and avoided “public displays of affection” have been ridiculed after photos resurfaced of the royal at a wild party in 2007 – surrounded by women.
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In his trainwreck BBC interview, which aired over the weekend, the Duke of York insisted he wasn’t a “party prince”, had once had a medical condition which prevented him sweating, and was “not one to hug” women as he repeatedly denied claims he had slept with one of his disgraced paedophile billionaire friend Jeffrey Epstein’s teenage sex slaves.
In the photos, taken in Saint-Tropez in July 2007, Prince Andrew is seen with his arms around a number of females, including one who is reciprocating by playfully licking her arm close to his beaming face.
It comes after the world reacted with scorn to the Duke of York’s baffling interview, with many branding it a PR disaster.
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After years of being dogged by headlines about his close ties with the convicted paedophile, the royal agreed to sit down with presenter Emily Maitlis to finally answer questions about their relationship and deny accusations that he had sex with then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts-Giuffre.
There were plenty of baffling moments during the 49-minute special, but a standout was the Duke of York claiming that he had “no recollection of ever meeting” Ms Giuffre, explaining that on the night in question he had taken daughter Beatrice to a party at a Surrey outpost of restaurant chain Pizza Express.
He also said that Ms Giuffre’s claims that he had sweated heavily during their alleged time together were incorrect because he has “a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat … it was almost impossible for me to sweat”.
Another confusing claim made by the Duke of York was his insistence that the outfit he’s wearing in the infamous photo with a then-17-year-old Ms Giuffre (reportedly taken at Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell’s London apartment) were in fact his “travelling clothes” — and not something he’d have put on for a night out.
He believes this casts doubt over the picture’s authenticity.
However, a resurfaced photo of him taken in the early ’00s on a night out in London wearing an almost identical shirt – if not actually the same one – has poked a rather large hole in that theory.
Prince Andrew was also condemned by many for failing to show any remorse over his friendship with Epstein or sympathy for the many victims, with British commentator Piers Morgan describing it as simply “excruciating”.
Catherine Mayer, founder of the Women’s Equality Party, questioned the Prince’s intelligence, saying he was “too stupid to even pretend concern for Epstein’s victims”.
SNP politician Hannah Bardell described the interview as “sickening”.
“Prince Andrew literally has no remorse or regard for the women abused and clearly does not see the problem with being pals with Epstein … The systematic abuse of power is unbelievable.”
But Royal Central editor Charlie Proctor probably summed it up best, tweeting: “I expected a train wreck. That was a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion level bad.”
I expected a train wreck.
— Charlie Proctor (@MonarchyUK) November 16, 2019
That was a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion level bad.#Newsnight #PrinceAndrew
Yes — far from repairing his image, the interview appears to have become another PR disaster for the royal.
Here’s how some of the UK’s biggest publications reacted to the TV special:
Meanwhile, the reaction on social media was positively scathing.
Really John Brockman, I don't know him. That deer in headlight look is priceless #princeandrew pic.twitter.com/YDR9Cgh5iz
— Pokemon Gamer (@JustapokeGamer) November 17, 2019
Advisor: Do the interview. Kill the story once and for all.#PrinceAndrew: pic.twitter.com/btZgSgrLSJ
— Rich Walters 🤘 (@therichwalters) November 17, 2019
#PrinceAndrew his best move now is to deny it was him being interviewed on Newsnight.
— Jon Dennis (@JonDennis) November 16, 2019
"It certainly looks like me, but it can't be proven that it actually was me ... And the man in the interview was sweating, and I don't sweat ... I was in Nando's that night, honest ..."
The entire UK to #PrinceAndrew right now... pic.twitter.com/98KVJ2TIbi
— Richard Barrass (@yesbarr) November 17, 2019
Been interesting to see the takeaways from #PrinceAndrew’s interview. For me his lack of remorse over his friendship with Epstein combined with his lack of sympathy & compassion for the victims proved his biggest failing. #Timetostepdown
— Victoria Arbiter (@victoriaarbiter) November 17, 2019
"I don't sweat", said the profusely sweating man#PrinceAndrew pic.twitter.com/DmQOLsxreM
— Mors 🔇 (@MorsStupebit) November 17, 2019
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