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DPA
London
British media and commentators on Sunday slammed a ‘car crash’ interview in which Prince Andrew discussed allegations about his links to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The BBC aired a 60-minute interview with Andrew, 59, late on Saturday, probing him on claims by a woman who said he forced her to have sex with him while she was a teenager allegedly held in “sexual servitude” by Epstein.
Andrew told the broadcaster he had “no recollection” of meeting Virginia Roberts - now named Virginia Giuffre - who said she was forced to have sex three times with Andrew, including when she was 17.
Andrew, the son of Queen Elizabeth II, admitted that his most recent stay with Epstein in 2010 was not “becoming of a member of the royal family” and had “let the side down.” “I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever,” Andrew said.
Asked to clarify whether he remembered meeting Giuffre, he replied: “No.” On one date in 2001 mentioned by Giuffre, Andrew said he had been at a pizza restaurant with his family.
In a front-page headline, the popular Mail on Sunday tabloid said Andrew had uttered “not one word of remorse” in the interview as viewers watched him “squirm.” The rival Sunday Mirror said Andrew showed “no sweat... and no regret.” Its headline mocked Andrew’s claim that Giuffre’s account of meeting him must be inaccurate because it referred to him sweating and he did not sweat at that time due to a medical condition.
Mark Borkowski, a leading publicist, tweeted that Prince Andrew “[showed] how not to draw a line in the sand and move on.” “For any student of public relations watch this interview ... I’d call it doing all the wrong things really well,” Borkowski wrote.
“Astonishing hubris! I’ve never watched a slow motion car crash until now.”
Celebrity lawyer Mark Stephens told The Guardian that Andrew’s strategy “only works if you’ve got a complete and full answer to every possible question, and here there are too many loose ends.”
London
British media and commentators on Sunday slammed a ‘car crash’ interview in which Prince Andrew discussed allegations about his links to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The BBC aired a 60-minute interview with Andrew, 59, late on Saturday, probing him on claims by a woman who said he forced her to have sex with him while she was a teenager allegedly held in “sexual servitude” by Epstein.
Andrew told the broadcaster he had “no recollection” of meeting Virginia Roberts - now named Virginia Giuffre - who said she was forced to have sex three times with Andrew, including when she was 17.
Andrew, the son of Queen Elizabeth II, admitted that his most recent stay with Epstein in 2010 was not “becoming of a member of the royal family” and had “let the side down.” “I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever,” Andrew said.
Asked to clarify whether he remembered meeting Giuffre, he replied: “No.” On one date in 2001 mentioned by Giuffre, Andrew said he had been at a pizza restaurant with his family.
In a front-page headline, the popular Mail on Sunday tabloid said Andrew had uttered “not one word of remorse” in the interview as viewers watched him “squirm.” The rival Sunday Mirror said Andrew showed “no sweat... and no regret.” Its headline mocked Andrew’s claim that Giuffre’s account of meeting him must be inaccurate because it referred to him sweating and he did not sweat at that time due to a medical condition.
Mark Borkowski, a leading publicist, tweeted that Prince Andrew “[showed] how not to draw a line in the sand and move on.” “For any student of public relations watch this interview ... I’d call it doing all the wrong things really well,” Borkowski wrote.
“Astonishing hubris! I’ve never watched a slow motion car crash until now.”
Celebrity lawyer Mark Stephens told The Guardian that Andrew’s strategy “only works if you’ve got a complete and full answer to every possible question, and here there are too many loose ends.”
