03 May 2023 , 16:19
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Lorraine Kelly spoke to BBC Newsnight interviews producer Sam McAlister, who secured the iconic Prince Andrew interview with Emily Maitlis on Wednesday's instalment of her ITV morning programme.
The ITV presenter admitted she was left "sweating" as Sam revealed the Duke of York dropped a "curveball" minutes before the interview was scheduled to begin.
In a clip from the documentary, Sam said: "Sitting there waiting for him to arrive. Around the corner he bounds and he's like, 'Oh, hello. I hope you don't mind, I brought someone with me.' And in my head I'm thinking lawyer because that would have been quite sensible, frankly, game over and instead, around the corner comes his daughter, Princess Beatrice."
"That was really quite a curveball of curveballs. Can you imagine being in Buckingham Palace about to talk to a member of the Royal Family about sexual offences? That's pretty tricky. And now I've got to do in front of his daughter."
Duke of York was questioned about his relationship with Virginia Giuffre, who accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 (US District Court - Southern Dis)
Sam explained how she convinced Andrew to do the interview (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Lorraine remarked: "I'm actually sweating thinking how awkward that was. Really bizarre."
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Sam replied: "I'd planned myself and how I was going to present myself on the basis of quite a robust Prince Andrew and then it's his young daughter, it was extremely awkward. And, I really felt for her on a human level. That's a very difficult conversation to have."
Lorraine suggested Andrew's daughters Beatrice and Eugeine were part of the Duke of York's motivation for wanting to sit down and talk.
"Definitely," Sam replied. "The human element is always something and in terms of negotiation, as you know, in the book I mention that was definitely a point that I thought of. He wanted to walk Beatrice down the aisle, the press coverage on him was already so bad that that looked unlikely.
Lorraine was left feeling 'awkward' over the Prince Andrew interview"And, on a father level, it was definitely I felt a motivation for him to be able to spend more time with his daughters, be vindicated and be the father he used to be."
Maitlis grilled Andrew about his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during an infamous ‘Newsnight’ interview in 2019.
She also questioned the Duke of York about his relationship with Virginia Giuffre, who accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17.
Andrew has denied these accusations, reaching an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre last year.
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