The Prince & the Pedophile Continued

Well...A LOT has changed since my last post. Prince Andrew has catapulted his way into the global headlines thanks to his interview on BBC's Newsnight with Emily Maitlis about his relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffery Epstein.

The Prince had hoped the interview on Saturday, Nov. 16th would clear his name and rehabilitate his reputation. According to the Newsnight, he thought it went well. IT DID NOT GO WELL. The interview was disastrous and it is doubtful that Prince Andrew will ever be able to recover from the fallout.  

What went wrong...

Oh my gosh, where to start...

1. Not ONCE during his 50 minute interview did Prince Andrew express any remorse for Epstein's victims. This I would have thought...was a no brainer and given that he had 50 minutes there was ample time to ensure an apology was delivered. Not even a little help from Maitlis could drag an apology from the Prince. She gave him the perfect opportunity, when she ended the interview with..."is there anything you would like to add?" His response, “No…you’ve dragged out most of what is required. I’m grateful for the opportunity.” Seriously?!
2. The Prince referred to Epstein's behaviour as "unbecoming." Really, Prince Andrew that's an understatement. He was a sex offender. A convicted pedophile.  Epstein raped children.
3. It didn't get any better when Maitlis asked the Prince point blank if he regretted his association with Epstein. "The people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn, either by him or because of him, were actually very useful." Andrew added, he had, "some seriously beneficial outcomes." Wow...it's all about you Andrew isn't it?
4. One of my personal favourites, was the rationale Andrew gave for staying at Epstein's house in 2010 after his release from  prison. Andrew said, he went to New York to break up with Epstein 'in person' because he is "honourable." And, he stayed with Epstein for 4 days because it was "convenient." BTW...during this interview Prince Andrew also said he didn't know Epstein very very well.
5. Did he notice any suspicious behaviour when he stayed 'multiple' times at Epstein's various residences? Andrew's response, "I live in an institution at Buckingham Palace which has members of staff walking around all the time and I don't wish to appear grand but there were a lot of people who were walking around Jeffrey Epstein's house. As far as I aware, they were staff."  
6. It was no surprise when Prince Andrew said he had never met his accuser Virginia Roberts Guiffre. But what was surprising was when he said that it couldn't have been him because he doesn't sweat and he knows that on the night in question he was at Pizza Express.  I'm not even going to bother going into this nonsense...unbelievable.

Arrogant & Out of Touch

Prince Andrew's interview was a PR disaster which no doubt will be studied in PR classes as a 'what not to do' case study for decades to come. Certainly for the Queen, this catastrophic Prince Andrew mess classifies as another 'annus horribilis' for her.

What I will say, is that in the era of  #Metoo I hope the walls that have protected people of power and influence will continue to be pushed down and people will be held accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, because of Jeffery Epstein's 'suicide' he will not be. But there are many individuals who participated and facilitated Epstein's trafficking activities and they should stand trial. I for one, will be watching.