
There's a reason why the British royal family don't often sit down for one-on-one interviews about their private lives.
Because when they do, it very rarely goes well.
When Prince Andrew went on BBC's Newsnight for an interview with BBC presenter Emily Maitlis in November 2019, things went "nuclear explosion level bad". Very quickly, the train wreck interview cemented itself as one of the most infamous pieces of televised journalism in the past decade.
Only three days after the interview aired, the palace announced Prince Andrew would be stepping down from royal duties. And as we now know, things haven't been great for Prince Andrew since, with the Duke of York paying a financial settlement to his accuser Virginia Giuffre. The settlement formally ended a civil case brought against him in the US. Prince Andrew has not been charged with any crime and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
This week, the producer behind the BBC interview has opened up for the first time about all the behind-the-scenes details, which include fascinating revelations.
Here's what we now know.
Watch part of Prince Andrew's Newsnight interview. Story continues below.
In 2019, rumours, allegations and concerns surrounded Prince Andrew because of his friendship and closeness with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein, who took his own life in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, had created a sex trafficking ring which allowed himself and his rich, powerful friends to have sex with underage girls - some allegedly as young as 12. Epstein also paid his victims to recruit new girls for him to abuse in his Manhattan, New York and Palm Beach, Florida residences.
Ghislaine Maxwell has since been sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
Newsnight producer Sam McAlister and her team knew they wanted to speak with Prince Andrew about his friendship with Epstein and Maxwell.
In an excerpt published by the Daily Mail from her new book, Scoops: Behind The Scenes Of The BBC's Most Shocking Interviews, McAlister said they were shocked when Prince Andrew agreed to an interview.
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