Prince Andrew conceded that he made a mistake and let the royal family down by sticking by Jeffrey Epstein after the billionaire financier was convicted of procuring an underage girl for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.
Andrew sat down for an interview with the BBC, which took place on Thursday at Buckingham Palace. The British network began releasing clips on Friday before the whole interview is scheduled to air on Saturday.
“The problem was the fact that once he had been convicted, I stayed with him. And that’s the bit that, as it were, I kick myself for on a daily basis, because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family,” the prince said in a clip. “We try and uphold the highest standards and practices, and I let the side down, simple as that.”
“It was not something that was becoming of a member of the Royal family… I let the side down.”
Prince Andrew speaks exclusively to #Newsnight about his decision to stay with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein https://t.co/Jo2mHaTrPi
WATCH: Saturday 21:00 @BBCTwo @maitlis pic.twitter.com/jZzpj7RwBe
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 15, 2019
“It was a convenient place to stay,” he added. “I mean I’ve gone through this in my mind so many times. At the end of the day, with a benefit of all the hindsight that one can have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do. But at the time I felt it was the honorable and right thing to do, and I admit fully that my judgment was probably colored by my tendency to be too honorable, but that’s just the way it is.”
New York City’s chief medical examiner has ruled that Epstein died by suicide over the summer while he was awaiting trial in a New York prison cell. The already convicted sex offender and financier was facing charges on numerous counts of sexually exploiting minors. His body was discovered on the morning of Aug. 10.
Andrew has said he met Epstein in 1999 and stayed at the billionaire’s various properties several times. The royal was named in a 2015 defamation lawsuit brought by one of Epstein’s alleged victims.
“At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behavior of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction,” Andrew said in an August statement. “I have said previously that it was a mistake and an error to see him after his release in 2010 and I can only reiterate my regret that I was mistaken to think that what I thought I knew of him was evidently not the real person, given what we now know.”
One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has also alleged that she was forced by Epstein to have sex with the prince. Andrew denied the claim, telling the BBC, “I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
