Mega Edition: Prince Andrew, The Interview And The Warning That He Ignored (7/27/26)

Summary

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The Epstein Chronicles

MEGA EDITION: Prince Andrew, The Interview, And The Warning That He Ignored

Host: Bobby Capucci
Date: July 27, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this riveting “Mega Edition,” Bobby Capucci dissects the infamous Prince Andrew BBC Newsnight interview—a catastrophic PR blunder that further entwined the British royal in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The episode explores not just the on-camera disaster, but also the dramatic behind-the-scenes efforts by producer Sam McAlister and the ignored warnings from associates and legal counsel. Through a detailed, blow-by-blow analysis, Capucci demonstrates how this interview became the ultimate case study in reputational self-destruction and public accountability for the powerful.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Setting the Scene: The Quest for the Interview

• [00:00–06:08]
  • Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview is contextualized by Sam McAlister’s reporting (Daily Mail) and recollections of the high-stakes atmosphere at Buckingham Palace.
  • McAlister describes the months-long pursuit leading to an unprecedented opportunity: “At stake was the interview every broadcaster across the world would have given their right arm to do just then.” (00:50)
  • The palace initially tried to control the narrative—“one red line: We couldn't talk about the issue of Andrew's friendship with Epstein.”
  • Amanda Thirsk, Prince Andrew's long-time private secretary, played a pivotal role in organizing the interview, later becoming the fall person for the debacle.

2. Negotiations and the Awkward Family Involvement

• [06:09–11:40]
  • The meeting in the palace between BBC producers, Andrew, Amanda Thirsk, and notably Princess Beatrice (who "was writing in a notebook") is described as surreal and awkward.
  • Capucci’s commentary: “What sort of buffoon brings their daughter to this conversation?...that’s what a real man does” (11:20), pointing to Andrew’s questionable judgment by involving his daughter in discussions about allegations of sex with a minor.

3. From Cautious Talks to Catastrophe: Landing the Interview

• [11:41–17:59]
  • After Epstein’s 2019 arrest and death, pressure mounts; McAlister ultimately secures the interview: “twenty weeks on, I managed to persuade Amanda that Prince Andrew's position of silence in the face of global scrutiny was untenable.”
  • Andrew is “upbeat” at first, bringing Beatrice to another key meeting and stating they’d discuss matters with “Mum” (the Queen), highlighting his immaturity and lack of self-awareness.

4. Inside Interview Day: Delusion and Disaster

• [18:00–23:00]
  • Vivid scene-setting: “Fifteen feet. That's how far away I am from the back of Andrew's chair...I can see the soles of his shoes, heart hardly scuffed...the nervous tapping of his left foot.” (18:00)
  • Andrew’s staff (including a hopeful equerry) and royal comms secretary Donald McCabe are convinced the interview will “clear his name.”
  • Capucci: “Boy, were they really missing the boat here, huh? They really thought that numbnuts was going to get out there and give the performance of a lifetime…” (20:30)

5. The Infamous Interview: Revealing Quotes and Blunders

• [23:01–30:57]
  • Emily Maitlis’s approach is lauded: “master class in calm, methodical, analytical interviewing.”
  • Key admissions and denials by Prince Andrew:
    • On visiting Epstein: “I went there with the sole purpose of saying to him that because he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen together.” (27:10)
    • On regret: “Do you regret the whole friendship with Epstein?” — “No, still not. And the reason being is that the people I met and the opportunities I was given to learn either by him or because of him, were actually very useful.” (28:00)
  • Andrew's scandalous claims:
    • The “Pizza Express in Woking” and “I can’t sweat” alibis, both widely ridiculed—“Has this guy done anything but lie throughout this whole entire time?” (28:52)
  • Capucci notes: “The answer showed how totally removed the prince was from the reality of an average life...All of these people are completely removed from what the rest of us have to deal with…” (25:44)

6. Immediate Fallout and the Aftermath

• [30:58–34:27]
  • Prince Andrew’s team is shockingly pleased with the interview; “he actually thought it had gone well.” (31:35)
  • Thirsk is jettisoned, the palace is blindsided, and the resulting global reaction is uniformly negative: “everyone agreed it had been an unmitigated disaster.”
  • Prince Andrew steps back from public duties and belatedly expresses sympathy for Epstein victims—at the Queen’s behest.
  • Host’s reflection: The interview becomes a “PR and crisis management case study on what not to do.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Andrew’s Public Persona:
  • “What do we really know about this guy, besides the fact that he's a grifter?” (02:43 – Bobby Capucci)
• On His Attempted Alibis:
  • “Out came his now notorious alibis that he was at the Pizza Express in Woking that day. That Virginia's recollection of him sweating on the dance floor at Tramp nightclub couldn't be true because he'd lost the ability to sweat…” (28:50)
• On Regret and Accountability:
  • Emily Maitlis: “Do you regret the friendship with Epstein?”
    Prince Andrew: “No, still not…” (as recounted ~28:00)
• On Prince Andrew’s Delusions:
  • “Enjoy your legacy, Prince of Nothing, the Joe Exotic of the Windsor family.” (24:28 – Bobby Capucci)
• On Palace Staff Optimism:
  • “The equerry beamed. Wasn't he wonderful? She said. Oh, yeah, wonderful. If you’re blind and deaf and then unable to comprehend things.” (31:05)

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Segment Timestamps

| Topic | Timestamp (MM:SS) | |------------------------------------------------|-----------------------| | The Interview’s Origin & Pursuit | 00:00 – 06:08 | | Palace Negotiations; Beatrice’s Involvement | 06:09 – 11:40 | | Securing the Interview; Queen’s Oversight | 11:41 – 17:59 | | Interview Environment; Staff’s Misjudgment | 18:00 – 23:00 | | On-Camera Disasters & Key Quotes | 23:01 – 30:57 | | Fallout, Blame, and Lasting Consequences | 30:58 – 34:27 | | Legal Warnings Ignored (Paul Tweed) | 34:54 – 39:35 |

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“The Warning He Ignored”: Legal & PR Advice

• [34:54–39:35]
  • Renowned defamation lawyer Paul Tweed repeatedly warned against the interview: “I warned Prince Andrew it was a bad idea to agree to the infamous Newsnight interview...Is he mad? No way. No, no, no, that's a bad idea. You should not do it.” (36:12, as quoted from Channel 4 documentary and Daily Mail)
  • Even the Queen advised against it, but Andrew’s arrogance prevailed: “Prince Andrew...he knows better. The Queen also told him, not a great idea, buddy.” (34:54)
  • The disastrous moment is now a cautionary tale of what happens when the insulated powerful ignore experienced counsel.

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Episode Tone & Host Commentary

• Bobby Capucci balances investigative seriousness with scathing wit and incredulity at the repeated missteps and arrogance of power figures like Prince Andrew.
• Regularly refers to Prince Andrew in derisive terms (“numbnuts,” “Joe Exotic of the Windsor family,” “punk b*tch”), capturing the tone of public outrage and incredulity.
• Stresses empathy for survivors, demands accountability, and repeatedly underscores the wider implications: “At least people being held accountable in some degree.”

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Final Reflection

Capucci concludes that the Newsnight interview was more than a car crash; it was a public reckoning. The episode serves as an indictment not only of Prince Andrew’s actions and lack of remorse, but also of a system that shields the powerful—until blistering stupidity and hubris make that impossible. As Capucci puts it, “Prince Andrew is his own worst enemy...he has made a cage of his very own design.”

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Recommended Actions:

• Watch the interview for a direct view of Andrew’s blunders.
• Follow The Epstein Chronicles for continual hard-nosed, unvarnished coverage of all things Epstein, Maxwell, and fallout.

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Contact:
[e-mail] | Twitter: @bobby_capucci

Linked Article: See episode description box for links to referenced articles and further reading.

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Transcript

[Bobby Capucci]

What's up, everyone? And welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles. So, at this point, my guess is everybody's familiar with Prince Andrew's Hindenburg level crash of an interview that he gave to Emily Maitlis. Well, now the producer behind it all who chased him down and set the interview up is dishing some tea over at the Daily Mail. So why don't we just dive right into this article today and see what Sam McAllister, the producer and author of this article, has to say. Headline the full inside story behind Prince Andrew's car crash TV interview. The woman who set it all up reveals Beatrice listened to him discuss teen sex claims and says, each time. I thought he couldn't say anything worse.

[Commentator/Co-host]

He did.

[Bobby Capucci]

There's no doubt it was one of the worst displays I have ever seen I of somebody giving a interview or a public speech or anything like that. Talk about open mouth and insert foot. How many things that he said during that interview have come back to haunt him. I can't sweat. I'm allergic to this. I was in Woking. I don't know her. I mean, come on, all of it has come back to boomerang and bust him directly in his stupid ass head. We were sitting face to face around the small table in Buckingham palace, three of us from BBC News Night, plus Prince Andrew, his private secretary and Princess Beatrice, who was writing in a notebook. At stake was the interview every broadcaster across the world would have given their right arm to do just then. Would Andrew agree to go on TV and talk about his friendship with Epstein? What followed was an intense two hours of questioning from the Prince and his daughter. And with every minute it became clearer that this wasn't one yet. So even to get the interview, Sam McAllister, the producer, had to run the gauntlet, basically right. She had to sit down with Amanda Thrask, who was the secretary at the time, and Princess Beatrice as well as Prince Andrew as they work through what the interview might entail. So I'm blown away that they were even able to get this interview honestly. And if Prince Andrew could go back in time, I'm pretty sure that he'd go back in time and strike this one from everybody's memory. As a Newsnight producer, I'd been pursuing this interview for months and was desperate to land it. So as we talked, I.

[Commentator/Co-host]

I decided

[Bobby Capucci]

to give it to Prince Andrew very bluntly. Sir, I have lived in this country for over 40 years and until now I only knew two things about you. It's that you are known as Air Miles, Andy and Randy, Andy. And I can absolutely tell you that the latter really doesn't help you in your current predicament. Had I blown our chances of landing the interview of a lifetime? My colleagues, presenter Emily Maitlis and Newsnight deputy editor Stuart McLean, looked genuinely shocked. There was a long pause, then Andrew laughed. The room collectively exhaled. I mean, is she wrong? What do we really know about this guy, besides the fact that he's a grifter? He was terrible at the functionary role he was put in to represent the nation and the Queen. And we also know he is somebody with a proclivity to be a sick and disgusting bastard. It had started, innocuously, an email from a PR to me in November 2018, suggesting a chat about pitch at Palace, Prince Andrew's initiative to support entrepreneurs around the world. Would Newsnight like to interview him? Interview him about it? Of course. They want to do that.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Right?

[Bobby Capucci]

And the prince now, this before the scandal really broke off, Right? So the prince, of course, is trying to get out as much publicity for his little project as possible so he can get more people like Mr. Turk to come in and give him some, you know, dirty money. Allegedly. The simple answer was no. We never agree to puff pieces and never allow interviewees to give conditions. So I politely declined. Do come back to me if the position changes. I signed off. It seemed so unlikely that I didn't even tell my boss. I assumed I'd never hear from their PR again. But six months later, I did. Prince Andrew was now open to a broader chat. Would I be interested in learning more? Absolutely. So this is a career maker right here. If you're a producer, a field producer, and you get a chance to produce a segment like this, this literally is a career changer. You can write your own ticket after this. Everybody from ABC to CNN to Fox News to BBC to wherever you want to go is going to give you a job. Because securing this kind of interview, this is a. It's a big deal for a field producer, for sure. The PR said she needed to talk to Andrew's private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, and she'd be back in touch. It was the first time I'd heard Amanda's name, and I immediately Googled her. Now, Amanda Thirsk was basically Prince Andrew's handler for years, and until this Newsnight interview. Once this interview happened, Amanda Thirsk was jettisoned to the wayside. She sounded suitably impressive, a woman who had worked for the prince for seven years, but who'd previously been a banker in the city. The picture that emerged after talking to a couple of friends was someone formidable, clever, thorough and fiercely loyal to Prince Andrew. Shortly afterwards, I was invited to meet Amanda at Buckingham Palace. I'm not going to lie, I was excited to go, but at this stage, I wasn't hopeful about landing an interview.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Now look, I get it.

[Bobby Capucci]

That has to be a pretty exciting thing to be invited to Buckingham Palace. Just like getting invited to the White House has to be a pretty exciting thing. But when you're going there for this kind of interview, yeah, I'm pretty sure that puts a damper on on all of the excitement. As far as I knew, no member of the royal family had ever been on News Night. We had no connections in the palace. It was rare to even do a royal story. Why on earth would Prince Andrew want to talk to us?

[Commentator/Co-host]

My guess is it has to do

[Bobby Capucci]

with the fact that you never do royal stories. He wanted it to appear that it was a neutral outlet doing the story on him, but it really boomeranged, right? The, the rubber band effect for Prince Andrew was pretty brutal. Here. All I could see was a load of armed police at an open gate and couldn't believe anyone just walked into Buckingham palace that way. But that's exactly what happened. They looked me up on a list, took my ID and rang through to someone who sanctioned my entry. The sea of police and guns parted and I began the long walk to the palace door. Yeah, how many massage therapists have made the same walk? Going to see Uncle Touchy in the middle of the night? The hundreds of tourists stacked up against the gates stared as I traipsed across the cobbles, somewhat impeded by a perilously high pair of knee high golden heeled Kurt Geiger boots. I have no idea what those are, but my guess is they're not that comfortable. I was directed to a modest waiting room that featured a tiny marble mantelpiece with a large gilt mirror and the loudly ticking wooden clock. On a little table sat a framed picture of Her Majesty in a yellow jacket and a hat. Sounds like, you know when you have a grandma that you go visit and she has like an antique room that you're not supposed to go into. Sounds like where this lady ended up. Feeling daring, I picked up the black frame. It wasn't heavy. It looked like a cheap wooden frame from ikea.

[Commentator/Co-host]

As I sat there, I could hear

[Bobby Capucci]

the staff chattering about some royal visit to Sandsbury and watched as a soldier came in, removed his huge bearskin cap and talked for a moment about the day. Then two PRs arrived and we were taken upstairs in old fashioned lifts, past huge busts of former kings and queens and through swathes of empty corridors. Amanda's office was a small room peppered with pictures of Prince Andrew and his family. Now, if anyone could be considered a confidant of Prince Andrew, it was Amanda Thirsk for all of these years. And the fact that he let her go the way he did it tells you everything you need to know about the disaster that was this interview. And she played a gigantic part in setting it all up and okaying it. So somebody had to be the fall person here. And it ended up being Amanda. She was exactly as I expected, impeccable manners, thorough and direct, not a hair out of place. We talked for two hours and agreed that the interview would encompass everything from Brexit to the future of the monarchy, as well as any other irrelevant issues that arose then. Amanda said there was just one red line. We couldn't talk about the issue of Andrew's friendship with Epstein. My heart sank. Oh, I wonder why you can't talk about that. Why is that a no go zone? Could it have something to do with the fact that Andrew, knee deep in all of this, had his stupid ass nose involved in all of it? And not only that, as we all know, allegedly abused Virginia. So, yeah, probably not a topic that he wants to bring up. Back then, Jeffrey Epstein wasn't a name that rang bells for a lot of people. Even so, I knew we had to decline the interview. This was in May 2019, and eight weeks later, Epstein was arrested. Twelve weeks later, he was dead. The full scale of his criminal behavior was coming into sharp focus. And Virginia Roberts and other survivors had started to speak. They'd been speaking a little bit earlier than that, but the essence of this is correct. And remember when the survivors took their story to social media, to you, that's when things started to really move in this direction, the direction of at least people being held accountable in some degree. Twenty weeks on, I managed to persuade Amanda that Prince Andrew's position of silence in the face of global scrutiny was untenable. Twelve long days later came the email we had all hoped for. It arrived from Amanda early on a Saturday morning, November 9th. Could presenter Emily Maitlis, our deputy editor Stuart and I, come to the palace in two days? Prince Andrew wanted to meet us, so that got to be pretty exciting. Got all of this going on. The situation with Epstein blooming once again and as a field producer. This is your, this is your day here, right? This is your Mia Culpa Monday, November 11, 2019 morning. Prince Andrew's voice was upbeat as he came into Amanda's room. He was smiling. He seemed friendly. I hope you don't mind, but I brought someone with me. We exchanged glances. Who could it be? A lawyer? Maybe someone from the Queen's staff? And then from behind him came Princess Beatrice. To be frank, the only thing worse than speaking to a prospective interviewee about allegations of sexual impropriety and sex with a 17 year old girl is having to do so in front of his daughter. What sort of buffoon brings their daughter to this conversation? I know you're trying to use her as a set piece to give you an easier time of it, but bro, this is horrible. The idea is to protect your children, to insulate them from your bullshit. That's what a real man does. But I guess we should have never expected that from a punk bitch like Prince Andrew. Princess Beatrice was polite and engaged, but unlike her father, she was evidently anxious about the meeting and clearly there to protect his interests. I'd heard she was close to the Queen. The Prince's eldest daughter was now, I felt, the person who can make the difference between us getting the interview or not. Well, probably correct, right? Who has more sway on their dad than a daughter? We all sat down, crammed into that tiny room a few feet from one another. What was most surprising was there was never any attempt to find out why what we'd, we'd ask or to place conditions on the questions. And that is very surprising, honestly. Usually these, these questions have to be very well tailored for bozos like Andrew, or else they have a train wreck like we saw here. But they weren't holding the, you know, the defensible ground. Andrew and his and company, they reached out for this interview because they knew they had to try and do damage control. But what really happened was even more damage. For his part, the Prince revealed for the first time that he supposedly had an alibi. He told us about Pizza Express, a children's party. He mentioned his sweating, or lack thereof. He talked about how recently he'd seen Ghislaine Maxwell Epstein's procurer of underage girls, co conspirator, general all around scuzz bag, you know, fellow child abuser and bipedal serpent. I think that's what they meant. He'd admitted he'd made errors of judgment. It was draw jaw dropping stuff. Yeah, errors of judgment, huh? How about errors of everything you've ever done in your life? And then he said something I'll never forget as we concluded, he turned to Princess, Princess Beatrice and said they had a lot to discuss and should go straight after upstairs to talk about it over a cup of tea with Mum. For a split second, I almost scoffed. What on earth did a grown man need to talk to his mum for? And then it hit me. Mum was the Queen. Well, I get it. I'd want to talk to my mom probably too. She's one of my best confidants. But in a situation like this, being, you know, the Prince of England, you should probably wait to say that until afterwards. You don't need people to know that. Oh, I'm gonna go run the mom and get some Advice. Less than 24 hours later, he agreed to the interview. I felt I wouldn't really believe it until those cameras started rolling. But I wouldn't have to wait long. This was on Tuesday, November 12, 2019. In just two days, we would all find ourselves back inside Buckingham palace, face to face with Prince Andrew again, conducting what turned out to be an interview more shocking than, than any of us could have ever predicted. I remember listening to it live as it was happening, watching the, the, the, the live coverage of it and I was blown away. For the whole entire thing pretty much. I mean like the whole entire ass interview. I was just shaking my head like, who let this guy do this? Who, who approved this? I mean, you would have to think that everybody in the palace knows what a bozo Prince Andrew is and, and approving an interview like this would end up in disaster. All right folks, that's going to end part one here and we'll be right back with part number two in our next update. If you'd like to contact me, you can do that@bobby capuchirotonmail.com that's B O B B Y C A P U c c [e-mail] you can also find me on Twitter obby underscore cap ucci. Alright folks, we'll be right back with part two. What's up everyone? And welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles. And now the conclusion of the interview with Prince Andrew. Thursday, November 14, 2019. Fifteen feet. That's how far away I am from the back of Andrew's chair. I can see the soles of his shoes, heart hardly scuffed. And the back of his head, new haircut. The hem of his trousers a perfectly judged length and the nervous tapping of his left foot. The chair seems a little small for his body. Yeah, he's a bit of a puff, isn't he? Not in the greatest shape in the world. And of course, he had himself a nice new cut and a pair of shoes that are hardly scuffed. When you're rich, you don't wear the same shit too often. Probably a brand new pair of kicks. My own chair is up against the wall of an opulent room larger than most London flats. I'm sitting next to a very friendly woman who, seeing how nervous I am, kindly offers me a martini. Imagine that, sitting at work, someone offers you a martini to calm you down. Pretty nice job, huh, Jen? With a twist. Her Majesty is also a fan. It's one of those exchanges that you can hardly believe is happening. Chatting idly with someone in Buckingham palace about your monarch's penchant for a cocktail. The charming. The charming woman is the prince's equerry. She's certain his interview will clear. Clear his name, that it's all been a terrible misunderstanding, that after this things will go back to normal. Boy, were they really missing the boat here, huh? They really thought that numbnuts was going to get out there and give the performance of a lifetime and everybody was going to say, ah, you know what? He's right. Prince Andrew didn't do any of this. He's an honorable dude and all of his behavior lines up and all of his receipts check out. The reality is none of that's true. He's not an honorable dude and none of his receipts checked out. Emily Maitlis is nervous, busying herself with her notes, the result of two days of relentless practice and brainstorms with. With a small team. Look, it's always nerve wracking when you have a big interview to conduct. I'm not somebody who does many interviews, but when you have them and you

[Commentator/Co-host]

know, you, you know you have one

[Bobby Capucci]

coming up, there's a lot of work that goes into being prepared for it. If you want to give a good interview anyway, you got to know obviously the topic you're going to talk about, but you have to know about the person that you're talking to, dig into their backstory, where are they from, all of that good stuff. So there's a whole entire thing that goes along with preparing for interviews and preparing for one like this. It definitely has to be a bit nerve shaking. I feel panic rise within me. We're about to interview a member of the royal family about his connections with a sex trafficker. We're about to ask him on camera whether he had sex with Virginia Roberts, whether he knew about Epstein's terrible acts and, and whether he was complicit. Well, it's nice that somebody did it, considering the authorities have never done it. Considering nobody in power has ever done it, it's nice to see that a news organization at least stepped up to the plate and got him on record. Apart from the equity, Amanda is here with her deputy. That's it. No lawyers, no other royal staff. I'd expected a swarm of people to oversee it all. And I bet if they could go back in time, that's exactly what they would have done. Lawyers everywhere, all kinds of legal counsel to make sure that, you know, things didn't go off the rails. And fortunately for us, and unfortunately for him, that's not what happened. A tall white man comes into the room to say hello. He's introduced as Donald McCabe, communications secretary to the Queen. His visit is quite significant. It means that the Queen likely knows about the interview. Well, yeah, there's no way that this interview happens without the Queen's go ahead. Prince Andrew is a dunce and a nonce in the rest of it, but the Queen's still going to make the decisions if the interview happens or not. After speaking to a couple of people, he leaves afterwards. This seems a missed opportunity. If he'd stayed, he'd have known the contents of the interview firsthand. Perhaps he would have realized how terribly this would play out for Andrew, for the palace, for the monarchy. And it was terrible. Look, here's the thing. People haven't just come up with a reason to hate on Prince Andrew. The dude's a moron. He doesn't represent the people of England well. He doesn't represent his family well. And in fact, he doesn't represent humanity well. So I don't know why they wouldn't have somebody there to monitor what this idiot was doing. Perhaps they would have had more time to prepare a response. Damage limitation of some kind. As it was, the first time McCabe would have seen the interview was more than 48 hours later alongside the entire nation. As I wait for the cameras and lighting to be set up, the equity tells me the that the same room will be used after the interview for palace. For the palace cinema night. When we leave, members of the royal household will congregate to watch a film and maybe eat popcorn. Maybe eat popcorn. What, is popcorn not allowed to the royal family? Isn't that like a staple? If it's movie night, you guys are gonna have the big screen going and some popcorn, some snacks. Prince Andrew suddenly appears and makes his way over to talk to me. He's friendly and chatty. We discuss cinema night and he Opens the doors at the end of the room to reveal the projector. Turns out this evening they're showing a Renee Zellweger film, Judy have I seen it? We chat a little bit about Judy Garland, the weather, floods in Green park, and then he moves on to the crew, making suggestions about microphones and other technicalities. Oh, so all of a sudden the

[Commentator/Co-host]

guy's a world traveled front of house.

[Bobby Capucci]

Technician, monitor, engineer. Now he knows about microphones. Dude wouldn't know about a microphone if one blasted him straight across his face. Twenty minutes later, we're ready to go. Amandl settles herself near Andrew, sitting on the floor, notebook in her hand. Emily nods. The cameras are rolling. And we're off. And, well, it is the beginning of the end for Prince Andrew, isn't it? This interview was the death knoll for him. When this interview cracked off and everybody heard from his mouth how much of a tool he is, that was the beginning of the end. The first question Emily asks, why he's decided to talk now is the one I get asked the most today. Why take the enormous risk? It's easy to look back now and say that the decision was reckless. But few people imagine their own answers to doing them harm. Yeah, a few people who didn't do anything. If you're innocent, that's when you come out and give your big speech. But if you're not innocent, you should shut your mouth and call your lawyer.

[Commentator/Co-host]

He didn't do that.

[Bobby Capucci]

His hubris would not allow it. You also have to remember the life Andrew has lived. The second son, always said to be the Queen's favorite, granted extraordinary access and opportunity, fond over the average CEO would have never taken that risk. They'd have calculated a hundred reasons not to take the chance. But Andrew and his people must have thought this hour of his life would change the public perception of him for the better. Well, they were severely mistaken. And do you think it's any surprise that Amanda Thirsk is no longer part of the crew? We don't know for sure, but we assume he's spent the past couple of days in constant rehearsals. Like us, his team must have theorized the questions, decided precisely how to deal with the more serious allegations, considered body language and tone deliberated exactly if or how he might apologize his answer to Emily's questions. He simply reminds us that his people have been talking to Newsnight for six months. And actually, it's a very good opportunity. Look, his body language was bad, his answers were bad, his posture was bad, and in fact, everything about him is bad. After that, Emily gave a master class in calm, methodical, analytical interviewing. The interview is now used across the world by PR and communications professionals and by people in crisis management as a shining example of what answers not to give when you're dealing with controversy. Imagine being the case study. The Prince of England could have done anything in his life, but instead, his legacy is going to be the case study of what not to do when giving an interview. Imagine that. Enjoy your legacy, Prince of Nothing, the Joe Exotic of the Windsor family. I'd assumed Andrew would distance himself from Epstein, condemn him outright, and diminish their shared history. Instead, it sounded like they were close friends and worse than the Prince. Even admired him. Imagine. And that was certainly the tone that came off. If you haven't seen this interview yet, you should definitely go and check it out, because it tells you a lot about Prince Andrew and it tells you a lot about the kind of person he is. Instead, it sounded like they were close friends and worse, that the Prince even admired him. What followed was one astonishing answer after another. Each time I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. The answer showed how totally removed the prince was from the reality of an average life. All of these people are completely removed

[Commentator/Co-host]

from what the rest of us have

[Bobby Capucci]

to deal with on a regular basis just to maintain they have no idea about any of it. Had he been on Epstein's private plane? Yes. Had he stayed on that. On his private island? Yes. Had he stayed at his home in Palm Beach? Yes. Had he visited Ghislaine Maxwell's London home? Yes. Was Epstein at Princess Beatrice's 18th birthday party at Windsor Castle?

[Commentator/Co-host]

Yes.

[Bobby Capucci]

So all of those affirmatives shows you right away the groundwork for the relationship. How tight they were, how close they were. And the fact that Prince Andrew allegedly was at Epstein's townhouse when Carolyn was raped, again tells you what you need to know. This dude needs to speak to the FBI. He needs to speak to the authorities. But will he? Probably not. In 2008, Epstein was jailed for soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. That cannot even occur. A prostitute cannot be a minor because minors cannot consent. This is child abuse and the rape of a child. That's what it is. Andrew said that they had no contact during that time, but. But Emily had the killer blow within months of his release. You went to stay with him at his New York mansion.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Why?

[Bobby Capucci]

Why were you staying with a convicted sex offender? Andrew replied, I went there with the sole purpose of saying to him that because he had been convicted, it was Inappropriate for us to be seen together.

[Commentator/Co-host]

I felt that doing it over the

[Bobby Capucci]

phone was the chicken's way of doing it. So you're not a chicken when it comes to breaking up with your BFF, Jeffrey Epstein.

[Commentator/Co-host]

You'll fly 5,000.

[Bobby Capucci]

I mean, 3,000 miles, five hours over the pond to do it, and then stay the night at his house, but you won't even speak to the FBI over the phone. A dramatic credulous. Was he saying it was the right thing to do? To spend four days at the home of a convicted sex offender? That it was somehow honorable? Emily persisted. Do you regret the whole friendship with Epstein? Andrew should have bitten her hand off for the chance to say quite simply yes. Instead, he said, now, still not. And the reason being is that the people I met and the opportunities I was given to learn either by him or because of him, were actually very useful. Imagine saying this, and all of these girls, 225of them, got money from the estate, by the way. And we know there's a lot more than that. But can you imagine saying that knowing that all of these girls were abused and raped by this guy? I remember having to look down just so I could roll my eyes. He had no recollection of meeting Virginia Roberts or of having his hand around her waist in the infamous photograph taken on the night she claimed he had sex with her as a royal. He said he wouldn't have been physically close to someone like that as a royal. Shut up, dude. In fact, nobody wants to be that close to you. Out came his now notorious alibis that he was at the Pizza Express in Woking that day. That Virginia's recollection of him sweating on the dance floor at Tramp nightclub couldn't be true because he'd lost the ability to sweat. Funny how there's a bunch of pictures of him sweating his ass through all of those shirts, though, huh? Has this guy done anything but lie throughout this whole entire time? As a former criminal baristor, I knew the answers were a future defense lawyer's nightmare.

[Commentator/Co-host]

I realized for the first time that

[Bobby Capucci]

Andrew couldn't have taken legal advice before speaking to us. It just got worse and worse. He couldn't have had sex with Virginia, he said, because sex for a man is a sort of positive action, which is very difficult to forget. Was this a royal euphemism for penetration? I mean, imagine having such an overblown opinion of yourself that you think that because you're a royal, everybody's gonna remember you, bro. You're a buffoon, okay? In fact, my Guess is, a lot of the people that you've rolled on top of for the five minutes in your life, they all want to forget you. Emily gave him another chance. I wonder if you have any sense of guilt, regret or shame about any of your behavior in your friendship with Epstein. She handed it to him on a plate. Surely he'd clarify that it had all been a terrible mistake. I looked up from the floor, watched him gather himself for one of the final answers. As far as Mr. Epstein is concerned, it was the wrong decision to go and see him in 2010. As far as my association with him was concerned, it had some seriously beneficial outcomes in areas that have nothing to do with what we're talking about today. Extraordinary that he couldn't see just how terrible that sounded. Emily asked her final question. I mean, this guy is still enamored with Epstein. It seems like here Epstein sure had you wrapped around his finger. What sort of kompromat did Epstein have on you? Joe, Exotic of the Windsor family. Is there anything you feel has been left unsaid that you would like to say now? A message of regret for the terrible acts of his friend had committed? Perhaps? Andrew's chants ebbed away. No, I didn't.

[Commentator/Co-host]

I don't think so.

[Bobby Capucci]

I think you've probably dragged out most of what is required. That was it. An interview more shocking than any of us could ever have predicted. I couldn't look at anyone. I could barely believe his people hadn't stopped the interview. I would have, despite the consequences. How'd you think it went? I asked the equerry. She beamed. Wasn't he wonderful? She said. Oh, yeah, wonderful. If you're blind and deaf and then unable to comprehend things. I'd expected Amanda Thirst to be distraught, the prince to look shaken or concerned. But she was smiling and he seemed ebullient. And then it hit me. He actually thought it had gone well. He was in such a good mood that he offered us all a tour of the palace. I couldn't go. I wouldn't have been able to speak to him in good faith. But of course, Emily couldn't decline. I don't know how she kept her. Her composure. I wouldn't have went. I would have just. I would have declined and been like, sorry, I'm never. I don't even want to talk to you ever again. After the interview was broadcast, everyone agreed it had been an unmitigated disaster for Prince Andrew. The newspapers also lambasted Amanda Thirsk, ridiculing her for letting him do the interview. I found this profoundly disturbing. What she had done was believe in her boss. His own answers had landed him in hot water. She's not wrong about that, you know. Amanda Thirsk at the end of the day, is just, you know, an employee. Prince Andrew is the boss, and he's the one that shit the bed. I also felt strangely protective towards her. We were both doing our jobs to the best of our abilities, and now her professional life lay in tatters. On November 20, Prince Andrew announced that he was stepping back from public duties for the foreseeable future. Belatedly, he also expressed sympathy for Epstein's survivors. Belatedly, huh? His mom probably told him he had to do that. Amanda Thirst stepped back from her role and eventually left. I messaged her, offered to meet if she was still so inclined. Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with eight counts relating to grooming underage girls for Epstein. Calls for Andrew to cooperate with the FBI grew louder. And then, just before the 25th anniversary of Martin Bashir's Panorama interview with Princess Diana, Earl Spencer went public with allegations against him and the BBC. The interview, he said, had been procured by Martin Bashir after he had told a litany of lies to Diana and showed her forged bank statements. She never had agreed to do it otherwise. The more I learned about the allegations, the more appalled I was. A graphic designer who'd blown the whistle on the bank statements, had lost his job. It seemed clear that there had been some kind of COVID up. All I could feel was betrayal and anger. For that, among many reasons, I decided I wanted to leave the BBC. Before I left, I finally got to see Amanda Thirsk. She was nothing but gracious and wished me the best. We are still in touch from time to time. Well, there you have it, folks. That's going to conclude part two of how the interview with Prince Andrew with Emily Maitlis was procured. A pretty interesting look behind the scenes at the life of a field producer and how crazy that can be. They're the ones that get these interviews. They're the ones that set all of this up so they have a very interesting life. There is no doubt about it. And imagine sitting in on this one. So I thought this would be a

[Commentator/Co-host]

good add to the catalog and offer

[Bobby Capucci]

a bit more context and some clarity about how the interview went down. All right, everybody, if you'd like to contact me, you can do that@bobby capuchirotonmail.com that's B O B B Y C A P U C c [e-mail] youm can also find me on Twitter at boby Cap ucci. The link that I discussed can be found in the description box.

[Commentator/Co-host]

What's up everyone and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles. So Prince Andrew's dumbass is back in the news and we're hearing from one of his pals, a lawyer who is a defamation lawyer named Paul Tweed, who said he advised Prince Andrew about speaking to BBC and giving that Newsnight interview. He told Prince Andrew that it was an absolutely terrible idea. But like usual, Prince Andrew, well, he knows better. The Queen also told him, not a great idea, buddy. But of course Andrew thought he was going to get up there and gaslight everybody and tell the whole world that he was an innocent man. And instead it was the opposite reaction, wasn't it? Everybody took a look at that interview and said to themselves, what an absolute skeevots this dude is. He didn't offer any bit of evidence. He didn't offer anything that would change my mind anyway about what we have learned about this dude.

[Bobby Capucci]

And besides a bunch of nonsense coming from surrogates and people around him, there's

[Commentator/Co-host]

nobody that's serious that's talking about Prince Andrew making a comeback or anything like that. That's all just fantasyland stuff. That his camp floats out there, you know, the four or five people that are still around them, they float that out there and they see what happens.

[Bobby Capucci]

What's the reaction going to be?

[Commentator/Co-host]

But the reality for Prince Andrew is the party is over. He's never coming back. He's never going to be welcomed back into polite society and most certainly not as a representative of the English people. Today we have an article from the dailymail.com headline, I warned Prince Andrew it was a bad idea to agree to the infamous Newsnight interview. Duke of York's lawyer pal says this article was authored by Vanessa Allen and Claudia Joseph. You have to be one dumbass to think doing that interview is a good idea. There was never a point in time when that interview should have even been a thing for Prince Andrew. The answer should have been no. Thank you, I'll pass. And if you're innocent, or if Jeffrey Epstein was blackmailing you or something, you should have went to the authorities and and sat down with the FBI and spilled the beans. You didn't do anything like that. What you did was you retreated behind your mum's skirts. Prince Andrew was warned it was a bad idea for him to discuss his links with disgraced financier pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. On Newsnight, a friend revealed yesterday lawyer Paul Tweed said he advised the Duke of York against speaking to the BBC about his links with the convicted pedophile and then told the senior aide, is he mad? No way. No, no, no. He said Andrew ignored his vice and made his mind up to tell his version of events to the broadcaster. And when you have a friend of yours who's a lawyer telling you this, a good lawyer, and, you know, not somebody you're paying, but a good lawyer who's just a friend, and they're advising you not to have this conversation on national tv, it's probably a good idea to listen to what they're saying. And if not, well, you only have yourself to blame. And Prince Andrew once again has made a cage of his very own design that he's living in. This man has created all of his own problems. Nobody created these problems for him. Nobody told him to pal around with Epstein, Nobody told him to be a general all around. He chose to do all of that, just like he chose to ignore the good advice of his friend here, Paul Tweed, and. And do the interview. The disastrous 2019 interview and its fallout effectively ended Andrew's role in public life. The Duke admitted he had visited Epstein shortly after the billionaire financier pedophiles released from jail for soliciting underage sex, and said that was the wrong decision. Yeah, you think the wrong decision. The Prince of England, a prince of the blood, going to hang out with a convicted pedophile, sleeping on his couch, breaking bread with him and doing Lord knows what else. I think it's safe to say that that ranks right up near the top of bad decisions of all time. He said he did not regret his association with Epstein as it had some seriously beneficial outcomes and gave no apology to Epstein's victims. No, he didn't. He sat there and acted like he was being victimized or something, like. Like he was being wrongfully targeted. Bro, everything you did with your boy Epstein, everything you did with all of the other undesirable scumbags you were hanging out with, you had to know at some point was going to come home

[Bobby Capucci]

and those chickens were going to roost.

[Commentator/Co-host]

But when you're somebody like Prince Andrew and you have these kinds of narcissistic traits, you don't see that for what it is. You don't see that there's a problem with. With what you're doing, because, guess what? You could never be wrong. Right? You're always in the right on Prince Andrew. I've never been reprimanded. I've never been punished. I've never been told no, so why should I be told no now? And that's the way Prince Andrew has always lived his life. And thankfully he had a nice dose of reality during this interview when basically a bucket of cold ass water was dumped on his head and, and he was told it was time to wake up. But unfortunately he seems to still be sleepwalking through life. The interview is now at the center of a two part Channel 4 documentary, Andrew the Problem Prints. The program includes insights from the News Night team which film the interview, Journalist Emily Maitlis and producer Sam McAllister, lawyers for one of the Epstein survivors and Andrew's friends. Mr. Tweed, a defamation lawyer and long standing friend of the Duke, said he was told about the plans for an interview a month before it was filmed. Speaking to Andrew as a friend, he said, look, that would not be a good idea, sir. He then got a call from Andrew's then chief of staff, Amanda Thirsk, saying the Duke had decided to do the interview. And we know that Amanda Thirsk lost her job as well. She's no longer working with the Prince. Who the hell knows what she's up to? But she got canned in the end as well. Anybody who was okay with Andrew doing this interview should be fired. And look like the rest of you. I'm over the moon that he did it. Anytime one of these clowns wants to get on tv, open their big fat yaps and expose themselves, I'm all for it. But as far as he's concerned, and as far as his cap is concerned, oh, I'm sure there were many nights of people staying up with Ajita freaking out that this idiot was going to do this interview. And when you have a good friend of yours like Paul Tweed telling you, bro, you're making a big mistake, you should probably listen. Mr. Tweed told the Channel 4 documentary, I said, is he mad? No way. No, no, no, that's a bad idea. You should not do it. Amanda just said, look Paul, I've gotta go, I'll call you later. The phone was put down abruptly and that was it. So instead of taking the advice of his lawyer friend Mr. Tweed here, he's taking the advice of all of the yes men that are around him. And that's the biggest problem when you're surrounded by yes men and nobody has the courage to ever say to you, look, you're acting out of line, you're talking out of the side of your neck, you're being stupid. Well, you're just gonna go on and continue to be stupid. And you know what they say, right? Play stupid games and you win stupid prizes. And Prince Andrew is the king of winning stupid prizes. So obviously the Duke, for better or for worse, had made up his mind he was going to do it. The Duke made that decision on his own. Against most advice, Mr. Tweed said Andrew was a very decent, straightforward individual, but believes he had been very naive in his dealings with Epstein. Oh, give me a break. It's always naive this, naive that. Va fangul naive. He knew what he was doing and he chose to chill with Epstein even when Epstein was outed. So I don't want to hear about, oh, he's naive. He didn't know who Epstein was. He didn't know what Epstein was up to. Everybody knew. He said the relationship was totally ill judged, totally inappropriate and. And he believed Epstein had set up a notorious photo of himself with the Duke in New York Central park in 2010. We know that's not true either. We've heard from the photo, the photographers who took the photo, who said they just happened to see this situation unfolding and we're in the right place at the right time. Andrew's camp, though, they floated the idea that this was all a setup. Epstein had served an 18 month sentence for soliciting sex from an underage girl in Florida and had been released from prison just months before Andrew visited him in New York. He was later found dead in his prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. So your boy gets out of jail, right, for sex offense crimes, and then you, the Prince of England, decide you're going to fly across the pond and go stay at his house. And then you're going to tell us you did all of that because you wanted to tell him you didn't want to be friends anymore. That's your story. That's the narrative you're sticking to. No wonder your friends didn't want you to do that interview. Mr. Tweed, who has represented Andrew's ex wife, Sarah Ferguson, in civil litigation, said the effect of the Newsnight interview on the Duke and his family has been horrendous, but believed he could return to public life, saying, I would never say never in any case. Well, must be smoking mushrooms. But because there's no way Prince Andrew is ever coming back to public life, unless of course, he provides some evidence that shows that his accuser is not telling the truth. You have that evidence, let's see it. But until you can provide something, as far as evidence is concerned, shut up and go back to the stable and muck the shit in the Newsnight interview, Andrew denied claims from one of Epstein's survivors, Virginia Roberts, that she was trafficked to have sex with him in 2001 when she was 17. He told Ms. Maitlis he did not remember meeting Ms. Roberts, and he was at a birthday party at a Pizza Express in Woking on the day she said that they met him. Going to a Pizza Express in Woking is like Bill Clinton going to your local Pizza Hut. It's not going to happen. He also denied her recollection of him sweating heavily after as they danced at a nightclub in central London, and insisted he had been unable to sweat after an adrenaline overdose during the Falklands War. Meanwhile, there's tons of pictures of Dum Dum over here sweating through his shirt. Andrew paid a reported 9.6 million pounds settlement to Ms. Roberts after she launched a civil lawsuit in New York accusing him of sexual abuse. Although he continues to to deny any wrongdoing. Ms. Roberts lawyer Sigrid McCauley said the Newsnight interview gave her a road map to tear him apart in the civil claim. 100%. Again, I've said it from the beginning and I'll continue to say it, folks. Prince Andrew is his own worst enemy. All right, folks, that's going to do it for this one. All of the information that goes with the episode can be found in the description box. Heirloom.