Jeffrey Epstein's Death Pushed Prince Andrew to Do His Infamous 2019 'Newsnight' Interview

Prince Andrew's 2019 Newsnight interview is often seen as the moment that ended his royal career, but Channel 4 journalist Esme Wren is opening up about the Duke of York's motivation for agreeing to do the televised conversation in the first place.

“We hadn’t been chasing the Jeffrey Epstein story," Wren told an outlet. "But Newsnight still offered a gold standard, and we exploited that by saying: ‘If you do Newsnight, you won’t have to do any more interviews.’”

“We told him it would represent accountability, and he bought it," she added.

Epstein committed suicide in a New York correctional facility after being found guilty of trafficking minors, leaving Andrew to be scrutinized for his proximity to the criminal.

“Only to find out that they didn’t have one — they just thought he was going to come across as an authentic person. I thought he wanted to do the interview because he wanted to show empathy and sympathy," Wren admitted.

"Epstein’s dead, put it on him," she added. "Why wouldn’t he do that? Why would he defend him?”

OK! previously reported journalist Emily Maitlis claimed the Duke of York “tried to remember rehearsed lines” during the television special. Since the episode's release, Andrew has slowly lost aspects of his royal lifestyle.

"One month after the interview aired, I was taken aside by someone close to (then) Prince Charles and told — somewhat cryptically — that 'HRH was not unhappy with the interview,'" Maitlis shared.

"The comment stunned me. In the years since, I have returned to that one line so many times in my head, trying to fathom the meaning of the message," she continued.

Virginia Giuffre sued Andrew in 2021 after accusing the royal of assault, but they came to an agreement out of court.

"He lost the respect, you know, of the nation and became, I think, much more difficult for him in his place in the royal family. And on the other side, we don't know if Epstein's victims gained anything from that," the broadcaster admitted.

"We don't know if their lives sort of materially changed," she added. "We don't know, we haven't had closure. There's been no trial, there's been a settlement, you know, costing millions."

While chatting with Maitlis, Andrew attempted to assert his innocence, as he has adamantly denied being involved in Epstein's criminal empire.

"I suppose I saw him once or twice a year, perhaps maybe maximum of three times a year and quite often if I was in the United States and doing things and if he wasn't there, he would say, 'Well, why don't you come and use my houses?' so I said 'that's very kind, thank you very much indeed," Andrew said when asked about his relationship with Epstein.

"It would be a considerable stretch to say that he was a very, very close friend," Andrew stressed. "But he had the most extraordinary ability to bring extraordinary people together and that's the bit that I remember as going to the dinner parties where you would meet academics, politicians, people from the United Nations, I mean it was a cosmopolitan group of what I would describe as U.S. eminence."

Wren spoke to The Guardian.