Prince Andrew thought BBC interview would make Jeffrey Epstein ties 'go away'

Prince Andrew underestimated the impact of his explosive 2019 interview.

The Duke of York, who sat in with Sam McAlister, over his association to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, thought he would be able to explain his side of the story without have to face the storm.

In a recent interview, Ms McAlister whether she thought the duke, 62, regretted agreeing to the interview.

She told ITV: "I think he was a bomb waiting to go off. He wanted to say something, he wanted to vindicate himself.

"Now I know that seems ludicrous now, but nobody thinks they're going to do a bad interview.

"He thought he would explain himself and he thought this would all go away. So I suspect if he went back, he would still do an interview but I doubt it would be with Emily and I doubt it would be with Newsnight."

She told Ms Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: "Who would say yes to being on Newsnight when you're accused of the things you're accused of there?

"I never for a second believed that this negotiation would be successful."

Andrew was stripped of his royal titles in January 2022. Two months later, in March, the Duke settled his civil lawsuit against Virginia Giuffree for a whopping multi-million pay out.