BBC staff who persuaded Prince Andrew to sit down for his infamous interview about the wreck have revealed surprising new details behind the scenes.
The producer behind the infamous BBC interview about Prince Andrew’s train wreck has opened for the first time with startling new details behind the scenes of the top secret process.
In an excerpt published by the Daily mail of his new book, Scoops: behind the scenes of the most shocking BBC interviews, Sam McAlister, who was working at the time News – reveals after months of unsuccessful bids for an unrestricted interview with the Duke of York, he finally threw all caution into the wind during a meeting between the two camps.
According to the journalist, she said to him: “Sir. I have lived in this country for over 40 years and until now I only knew two things about you. It’s that they know you as “Air Miles Andy” and “Randy Andy,” and I can tell you that the latter doesn’t really help you in your current situation. “
She referred to the intense global scrutiny around Andrew after the arrest of her former close friend, Jeffrey Epstein, and immediately wondered if she had ruled out her chances of getting “the interview of a lifetime.” .
However, after a “long pause,” McAlister claimed that Andrew suddenly laughed and everyone in the room relaxed instantly.
After years of being chased by headlines over his close ties to the convicted peophile, in November 2019, the royal agreed to sit down with BBC presenter Emily Maitlis to finally answer questions about their relationship and deny the allegations. who had had sex with 17-year-old seeds. -old Virginia Roberts-Giuffre.
Instead of clarifying his name, the interview turned out to be so spectacular that just three days later, and amid global outrage, Andrew announced that he was “retiring” from royal duties.
Prince Andreu has not been charged with any crime and has vehemently denied any crime
In the book, McAlister explains that the prince was “cheerful” and “kind” during his pre-interview meeting, and that he had brought his daughter, Princess Beatrice, with him.
However, unlike her father, Beatrice was “obviously anxious” and “clearly there to protect her interests.”
It was during this meeting, McAlister says, that Andrew first revealed his “alibi” the night Roberts-Guiffre claimed to have slept with him.
He told the BBC team about a children’s party at Pizza Express, his now-famous “no sweat” issue, and even admitted “misjudgments”.
“They were amazing things,” McAlister writes.
“And then he said something I’ll never forget. When we finished, he turned to Princess Beatrice and said they had a lot to discuss and they should go upstairs and talk about it with a cup of tea, with mother.
“… And then it touched me. ‘Mother’ was the queen. ‘
The former TV producer also expressed his shock at the lack of representation in the room during the interview, which would eventually end Andrew’s royal career.
Aside from the prince’s team, his private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, was present with his deputy, and McAlister admits it could not be believed that there was “no lawyer, no other royal staff.”
He also revealed that the Queen sent her own representation to register, her communications secretary, Donal McCabe, but that she left after talking to some people and even before filming began.
“Then it seemed like a missed opportunity: if he had stayed, he would have known first hand the content of the interview. Perhaps he would have released how terribly that would be for Andrew, for the palace, for the monarchy,” McAlister writes. .
“Maybe they would have had more time to prepare a response. Damage limitation of some sort.”
But perhaps most striking of all is the detail McAlister gives about the reaction of Andrew and his team, both during and immediately after the interview.
“I couldn’t believe his people hadn’t stopped the interview. He would have done it, despite the consequences,” he admits in his book.
He went on to describe how the royal staff had seemed pleased with how the shocking interview had unfolded and Andrew even “seemed elated”.
It was then, McAlister writes, that he realized that he “actually thought everything had gone well.”
The excerpt from McAlister’s book comes just days after Andrew’s former friend Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Epstein find girls to have sex with.
This week he apologized in front of a Manhattan court for his crimes and told his victims, many of whom were present, that he hoped his time in prison would bring them “closure.”
“I acknowledge that I have been a victim of helping Jeffrey Epstein commit these crimes,” he told the judge, stating that meeting the predator was “the greatest regret” of his life.
One victim said outside court that “sorry, don’t cut it.”
The sentence is much lower than the maximum of 55 years requested by the prosecution.
Despite this, Maxwell’s lawyers have said they will appeal and that time in prison reflected the crimes of the late Epstein more than his own.
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