Prince Andrew admits BBC Newsnight interview over Jeffrey Epstein is a ‘source of regret’

For the first time, Prince admits regret over BBC trainwreck, but his latest demand is likely to enrage Epstein victims.

Prince Andrew the Duke of York has admitted for the first time that the BBC Newsnight interview that led to his humiliating fall from grace is a “source of regret”.

It can also be revealed that he will not co-operate with the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein unless US authorities offer him “an olive branch”.

Prince Andrew, 60, was reported to have told his mother Queen Elizabeth the interview, conducted by the Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, was “a great success”. And while he continues to insist the decision to do the interview was correct, he is said to concede that his failure to apologise to Epstein’s victims was an error.

A source close to the duke said: “I don’t think he regrets the intention behind the interview, which was to clear the air for his family, the royal family and the institution. But the fact he was unable to appropriately or sufficiently convey his sympathy for the victims of Epstein, is of course a source of regret.”

After a war of words between Prince Andrew’s legal team and the FBI prosecutor leading the case into the late billionaire paedophile, the duke is unwilling to assist investigators unless they “rebuild trust” in the legal process.

BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis grills Prince Andrew, The Duke of York over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Such an approach is likely to enrage Epstein’s victims, some of whom were as young as 14 when they claim to have been sexually assaulted.

Last week, each side branded the other liars after it emerged that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) made a request to the Home Office for help to question Andrew. The duke’s legal team issued a statement accusing the DoJ of “breaching their own confidentiality rules”, insisting he had “offered his assistance as a witness to the DoJ” at least three times this year.

Geoffrey Berman, the lead federal prosecutor in New York, responded: “Prince Andrew yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to co-operate . . . the prince has not given an interview to federal authorities, has repeatedly declined our request to schedule such an interview, and . . . informed us unequivocally . . . that he would not come in for such an interview.” A source close to the duke said: “The duke is not going any further in the co-operation process until the DoJ begin to behave honourably . . . unless they have given him some signal acknowledging there has been a significant breach of trust, and offering some kind of olive branch to rebuild trust.

“I don’t think there’s a legal team on the planet that would encourage any client to co-operate with a judicial authority that has been demonstrably leaking confidential information. The ball is now firmly in the DoJ’s court.”

One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, has claimed that she had sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions when she was 17, an allegation he has consistently denied. The prince withdrew from public duties six months ago after the Newsnight program.

A royal source said: “Andrew’s team have to find an appropriate way for him to share his experiences and just get it done, rather than pick fights with the feds. Even if down the line, all the criminal and civil cases are over and Andrew is completely exonerated, the stain will always be there, with the suspicion he was party to what went on. Those photos [with Epstein and Giuffre] will always exist.”

The Queen is understood to be resigned to her second son’s permanent removal from public life.

But the duke believes he can undertake royal duties in the future. “It is still his intention to resume a public role,” said a source close to Andrew. “He knows he has to resolve the noise around the matter. The duke sees the situation now as a working sabbatical from his duties. He’s very conscious of the impact it’s had on the reputation of the royal family, his own family and the country.”

The Queen has been privately supportive of Andrew, but is acutely aware of the public mood on the matter. After the Newsnight interview, she was photographed riding with the duke in a show of support. But although she has continued to ride regularly at Windsor, it is understood she has not seen Andrew, who lives nearby at Royal Lodge, opting instead to go for socially distanced rides with her head groom Terry Pendry.

A source who has discussed the issue with Buckingham Palace officials said senior courtiers were dismayed at Andrew’s handling of the legal row. “Palace officials were furious that he did what he did because it overshadowed the Duke of Edinburgh’s 99th birthday [on Wednesday] which was supposed to be a positive moment for the monarchy,” the source said.

He added: “The idea that the Queen will simply indulge Prince Andrew . . . is wide of the mark. Her patience has been wearing thin for a long time. She had resisted this slimming down of the monarchy but it’s fair to say she is not now standing in the way of that in her lifetime.”

Berman declined to comment.

The Times