Former lead anchor at BBC, Emily Maitlis admitted that she thinks
that Prince Andrew “had behaved fairly nicely” after he was compelled to exit
the Royal family, post his interview with Maitlis. 

She said, “I felt he’d behaved rather well. He had given us this
hour in the palace and was willing to talk about stuff. Most politicians now
won’t even talk about their own policies. So at least he had guts.”

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She also expressed the Prince had enjoyed the interview while
being unaware of the backlash he would have to face. 

The Prince’s failure to express regret for his friendship with
Jeffrey Epstein or compassion for Epstein’s victims, as well as his bizarre
explanation of how he couldn’t have been seen dancing and appearing
“sweaty” in a nightclub (as described by his alleged victim Virginia
Guiffre), made it clear that neither the Prince, his people, nor the wider
palace firmament had anticipated the backlash to the interview.

The tense interview unveiled the decade-long friendship the Duke
shared with Epstein and was a guest at his home on several occasions (including
travelling in Epstein’s private jet, staying on his private island and at his
home in Palm Beach) and yet how remained incognizant of Epsteins’ criminal
activities. 

Maitlis told The Times, “The palace told us it was ‘firm but
fair.’ I don’t think they realised how the public or press would react. They
certainly weren’t expecting the furore.”

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On January 13, 2022, a letter – released by anti-monarchy
pressure group Republic – was signed by more than 150 Royal Navy, RAF and Army
veterans asking the Queen to strip Prince Andrew of his eight British military
titles. In a statement released by Buckingham Palace on November 20, 2019,
Andrew stated that he would be stepping down from his public duties “for
the foreseeable future.”

Two TV dramas based on the interview are being produced currently.
One is by Blueprint Productions, which previously brought the scandals
surrounding British politician Jeremy Thorpe and the Duchess of Argyll to the
big screen with the dramas A Very English Scandal and A Very British Scandal,
respectively. Both are based on the book Scoops, which was written by Maitlis’s
then-producer Sam McAllister.