Running 'Scared': Journalist Emily Maitlis Admits to Being Royally Jolted After Prince Andrew's Resignation From Role After 2019 Interview

Emily Maitlis, who famously interviewed disgraced Prince Andrew in November 2019, reflected on what it feels like to be the "catalyst of his fall from grace," as one royal insider once described her.

"My heart started beating really fast," Maitlis told People when looking back on how she felt before the sit down with royalty. "I think for a moment I was quite scared."

The interview led Queen Elizabeth II to banish her son from public view, and it was later revealed that she worked with Prince William on crafting a response to the controversy.

In his late 2023 book, Endgame, author Omid Scobie revealed that the then-Duke of Cambridge personally visited Elizabeth II in 2021 to discuss the Duke of York. The future king did this as he thought she may go too "soft" on her favorite son, who William felt "can still inflict considerable damage to the monarchy."

Maitlis asked the Duke of York about his relationship to deceased, convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and today, she reflected on how odd she found his reply to be.

She added, "On the one hand, you have this extraordinary power as a journalist. You can literally rewrite the chapters of a royal prince’s life in that interview. You put something in motion with an interview like that, which you cannot control, and I guess I felt the real power of responsibility."

"What happened if he went over the edge?" the broadcaster continued. "What happened if he was thrown out by his family? I didn't know. I felt that things had started turning on their own and it was not me anymore. I couldn’t touch that. It was happening of its own accord."

"And I remember thinking, 'This is quite scary because this has now got a life and lease of its own,' she further observed. "And you feel very aware. I was very conscious of the other people in his life — of his own daughters, [and] the family members. I felt that was important."

Andrew was friends with Epstein from 1999 to the end of 2010, although recent emails show the Duke may have kept associating with the financier well into 2011.

On his friendship with the pedophile, Maitlis said of the prince, "It would’ve been a really easy thing just to say, 'In hindsight, my God, I got that wrong.' And he used this curious phrase. He said, 'Still not.'"

"I remember thinking, 'That's just a strange response. Do you not realize that everyone’s eyes are on you? We’re watching how you respond to this, and you’re talking about this. He’s a pedophile. He’s an absolute monster.'"

The reporter concluded by highlighting how struck she was by the Duke's "living in another world," which many interviewers have discovered when questioning senior royals.