New Epstein file emails raise fresh questions over Andrew claims in Newsnight interview | BBC News — Transcript

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1. 0:00The latest revelations from the Epstein
2. 0:02files raise some serious questions about
3. 0:04the reliability of what the then Prince
4. 0:06Andrew said in a BBC Newsnight interview
5. 0:09in 2019. Tonight, for the first time,
6. 0:12Prince Andrew speaks out. I have no
7. 0:14recollection of ever meeting this lady.
8. 0:17From that day forth, I was never in
9. 0:19contact with him. We've gone through his
10. 0:21replies to find out how they stand up to
11. 0:23what we found out since in emails which
12. 0:26were apparently sent by and to Andrew.
13. 0:29He has previously denied any wrongdoing.
14. 0:35It would be to some extent a stretch to
15. 0:37say that that um
16. 0:39uh as it were, we were close friends. We
17. 0:41now know that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
18. 0:44and Jeffrey Epstein were in frequent
19. 0:46contact with each other. They talked
20. 0:48business, they mixed socially, they
21. 0:50visited each other. They were close
22. 0:52enough for Epstein to set up a dinner
23. 0:53date for Andrew, promising that his
24. 0:55guest was 26, Russian, clever,
25. 0:59beautiful, and trustworthy in an email
26. 1:01from August 2010.
27. 1:02>> [music]
28. 1:03>> In 2008, he was convicted of soliciting
29. 1:07and procuring a minor for prostitution.
30. 1:10He was jailed. This was your friend. How
31. 1:13did you feel about it?
32. 1:15Well, I ceased contact with him after
33. 1:18I was aware that he was
34. 1:21>> [music]
35. 1:21>> um under investigation and that was
36. 1:24later on in in
37. 1:262006.
38. 1:29And I wasn't in touch with him again
39. 1:31until 2010. So, um I just just it was
40. 1:36one of those things that somebody's
41. 1:37going through that sort of thing, well,
42. 1:38I'm terribly sorry, I can't be So, no
43. 1:40contact?
44. 1:41>> No contact. When when he was serving
45. 1:43time, there was no call, no letter,
46. 1:45nothing there. Except here's an email
47. 1:48from Andrew to Epstein in 2009. "Please,
48. 1:51may I stay in your beautiful apartment
49. 1:53again?" Andrew was asking about using
50. 1:56Epstein's place in Paris at a time when
51. 1:59he says there was no contact.
52. 2:04He was released in July. Within months,
53. 2:08by December 2010, you went to stay with
54. 2:11him at his New York mansion.
55. 2:13Why? Why were you staying with a
56. 2:15convicted sex offender?
57. 2:16>> Right.
58. 2:18I have always
59. 2:20ever since this has happened and since
60. 2:22this has become
61. 2:23as it were public knowledge that I was
62. 2:25there. I've questioned myself as to why
63. 2:28did I go,
64. 2:30what was I doing, and [music] was it the
65. 2:33right thing to do. But this email was
66. 2:35sent as soon as Epstein's sentence was
67. 2:37over in July 2010 saying,
68. 2:40"Congratulations."
69. 2:41As he'd found out you were allowed out
70. 2:44from yesterday. While in New York, this
71. 2:46picture was taken of the pair walking in
72. 2:48a park. Andrew gave an account of their
73. 2:51conversation where their connection was
74. 2:53said to have been severed.
75. 2:58Look,
76. 2:59because of what has happened,
77. 3:01I don't think it is appropriate
78. 3:03that we should remain in contact.
79. 3:06And by mutual agreement during that walk
80. 3:09in the park,
81. 3:10we decided that we would part company
82. 3:12and I left I think it was the next day.
83. 3:15And to this day, I'd never had any
84. 3:18contact with him from that day forward.
85. 3:20But contact showed no signs of stopping.
86. 3:23Soon after, Andrew was back in the UK.
87. 3:26"It was great to spend time with my US
88. 3:28family. Looking forward to joining you
89. 3:30all again soon." He told Epstein. "I'll
90. 3:33call you tomorrow as I'm moving the
91. 3:34family up to Sandringham during the
92. 3:36day." The no contact had evaporated.
93. 3:39[music] Andrew went on to say Epstein
94. 3:41had been understanding about the end of
95. 3:44their relationship with Andrew insisting
96. 3:46that with all the attendant scrutiny
97. 3:48[music] on me, it was over. But months
98. 3:50later, they were still sending friendly
99. 3:52emails to each other,
100. 3:53>> [music]
101. 3:53>> with Andrew in February 2011 promising
102. 3:56Epstein, "We'll play some more soon."
103. 4:00In the interview, he maintained that he
104. 4:02had taken a moral stance on cutting off
105. 4:04ties with Epstein. It [music] seemed an
106. 4:06important part of his testimony. I took
107. 4:09the decision that it was I had to show
108. 4:11leadership and I had to go and see him
109. 4:13and I had to tell him, "That's it."
110. 4:15Although the email suggests that wasn't
111. 4:17it. They were even in touch on Christmas
112. 4:20[music]
113. 4:21Emily Maitlis pressed the point about
114. 4:23this being their only connection since
115. 4:25[music] his conviction in 2008. Was that
116. 4:28visit, December of 2010, the only time
117. 4:32you saw him after he was convicted? Did
118. 4:34you see him or speak to him again?
119. 4:37>> That's disputed by the emails. "Can you
120. 4:40speak anytime from now until later
121. 4:43today?" [music] That was Andrew's
122. 4:44message to Epstein on Christmas Eve
123. 4:46after that trip. One of a number of
124. 4:49emails that seemed to be about setting
125. 4:51up phone calls.
126. 4:56The interview turned to Virginia
127. 4:57Roberts, whose later married name was
128. 4:59Virginia Giuffre, and who became
129. 5:01Andrew's most prominent accuser before
130. 5:04her death in 2025. I have no
131. 5:06recollection of ever meeting this lady.
132. 5:10None whatsoever.
133. 5:11>> You don't remember meeting her.
134. 5:13>> No. Behind the scenes, there were emails
135. 5:15[music] back and forth about her claims.
136. 5:18That included preparing a statement for
137. 5:20Ghislaine Maxwell to explain her
138. 5:22position, including a contribution from
139. 5:24Amanda Thirsk, Andrew's private [music]
140. 5:26secretary and close adviser.
141. 5:29Her proposal was to reject Virginia's
142. 5:31claims about being trafficked for sex
143. 5:33with Andrew as completely untrue, but
144. 5:36she suggested that Maxwell [music] said,
145. 5:38"The only time I recall them meeting was
146. 5:40at my home in 2001 in London. You have
147. 5:43[music] published a photo. They did not
148. 5:45have sex. They may have met up again in
149. 5:48New York, but I categorically state that
150. 5:51Prince Andrew did not grope, nor did
151. 5:53they have sex. There was no orgy in
152. 5:56Little St. [music] James.
153. 5:57It rejected any wrongdoing, but it
154. 5:59accepted that they had met in London and
155. 6:02possibly New York, and the photo of
156. 6:04Jeffrey and Andrew together was
157. 6:06authentic. There was an explanation that
158. 6:09he was [music] in Woking at Pizza
159. 6:11Express, and more doubt was cast on the
160. 6:14photo. You've seen the photo.
161. 6:16>> I've seen the photo. How do you explain
162. 6:17that? I can't.
163. 6:21Cuz I don't know. I have no Again, I
164. 6:23have absolutely no memory of that
165. 6:25photograph ever being taken. But an
166. 6:27email from Ghislaine Maxwell again
167. 6:30appears to confirm that there was a
168. 6:32meeting with Jeffrey that evening at
169. 6:33Maxwell's London house, and that the
170. 6:36photo was taken there.
171. 6:38>> [music]
172. 6:38>> In a draft statement she sent to Jeffrey
173. 6:40Epstein in 2015, she wrote, "In 2001, I
174. 6:44was in London when
175. 6:46>> [music]
176. 6:46>> met a number of friends of mine,
177. 6:48including Prince Andrew. A photograph
178. 6:50was taken as I imagine she wanted to
179. 6:52show it to friends [music] and family.
180. 6:54It doesn't seem to dispute the photo or
181. 6:57the meeting. There have been more recent
182. 6:59calls for Andrew to testify about what
183. 7:01he knew, and Emily Maitlis [music]
184. 7:03put that question to him.
185. 7:08Would you be willing to testify or give
186. 7:10a statement under oath if you were
187. 7:12asked? Well, I'm like everybody else.
188. 7:14I'm I'm
189. 7:16And I would have to take
190. 7:18all the legal advice um that there was
191. 7:22before I was to to do that sort of of
192. 7:25thing. But if push came to shove, and
193. 7:27the legal
194. 7:28the legal advice was to do so,
195. 7:31then I would be [music] duty-bound to do
196. 7:33so. Among the significant findings of
197. 7:36the released emails is how hard the US
198. 7:39authorities tried to get Andrew to
199. 7:41testify with no sign of him or his
200. 7:43lawyers being willing. The US
201. 7:45authorities concluded in an email from
202. 7:472020 that efforts to obtain a truly
203. 7:50voluntary interview have been exhausted.
204. 7:53They then began a formal process of
205. 7:54trying to compel Andrew to give
206. 7:56evidence. More than six years after the
207. 7:59Newsnight interview, there is still no
208. 8:01sign of him planning to share what he
209. 8:03knows about Epstein.
210. 8:06As the interview came to a close,
211. 8:07>> [music]
212. 8:08>> Emily Maitlis then asked more about
213. 8:10Andrew's feelings about the scandal and
214. 8:12how the royals should respond.
215. 8:14His response, once again, relies on the
216. 8:16claim that he'd cut ties with Epstein on
217. 8:19that New York trip in 2010.
218. 8:21I know that
219. 8:24I made the wrong judgment and I made the
220. 8:27wrong decision.
221. 8:29Uh but I made the wrong decision and the
222. 8:31wrong judgment, I believe fundamentally
223. 8:34for the right reasons, which is to say
224. 8:36to somebody, "I'm not going to see you
225. 8:37again." And in fact, from two From that
226. 8:40day forth,
227. 8:41I was never in contact with him.
228. 8:44The emails show he was frequently still
229. 8:46in contact. That included [music]
230. 8:48sending Epstein official documents from
231. 8:50Andrew's trips as trade envoy, including
232. 8:53confidential information from
233. 8:55Afghanistan. All of that was sent after
234. 8:57the time he claimed not to be in
235. 8:59contact. Emily Maitlis gave him one more
236. 9:03chance to make an apology. I wonder if
237. 9:05you have any sense now of guilt, regret,
238. 9:09or shame about any of your behavior and
239. 9:12your friendship with Epstein.
240. 9:14As far as Mr. Epstein is concerned, it
241. 9:16was the wrong decision to go and see him
242. 9:18in 2000 [music] and um 10. He talked
243. 9:21about some seriously beneficial outcomes
244. 9:24from their relationship. Was I right in
245. 9:26in in having him as a friend
246. 9:29um at the time and bearing in mind this
247. 9:31was some years before he was accused of
248. 9:33being um
249. 9:34a sex offender?
250. 9:36Um uh I I didn't think there was
251. 9:38anything wrong then.
252. 9:41The problem was the fact that once he
253. 9:43had been
254. 9:45convicted You stayed with him. I stayed
255. 9:47with him.
256. 9:48From the released files, the emails
257. 9:50indicate that Epstein's conviction
258. 9:53wasn't any problem [music] for Andrew.
259. 9:55As we've seen, his response at the end
260. 9:57of Epstein's sentence was
261. 9:59congratulations, and their personal,
262. 10:01social, and business connection had
263. 10:03shown no signs of stopping.
264. 10:06We have contacted Andrew
265. 10:07Mountbatten-Windsor for comment. He's
266. 10:09previously denied any wrongdoing.