The release of a new clip from BBC Panorama’s interview with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims to have been Jeffrey Epstein’s “sex slave” and have had sex with Prince Andrew, has been cancelled, The Times reports. According to the outlet, the broadcaster, which initially wanted to air it this morning, changed plans, citing the “sensitive nature of the programme”.
The first teaser of the potentially bombshell interview was released last week. It featured one of Epstein’s most vocal accusers talking about the Duke of York and discussing the time of their “relationship”: “It was a really scary time in my life”.
“He knows what happened, I know what happened. And there's only one of us telling the truth”, she said in the clip.
The interview, scheduled to be aired tonight, comes slightly more than a week after Prince Andrew’s catastrophic appearance on TV.
Prince Andrew’s Interview
In Prince Andrew’s interview with the BBC, he denied that he had sexual contact with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, then a minor, in 2001. However, his arguments prompted a backlash. Among other things, he noted that “if you're a man it is a positive act to have sex with somebody", and so he would recall if he had slept with the woman.
Although Queen Elizabeth’s son gave the aforementioned interview to the BBC to put an end to speculations about his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in what seemed to be an attempt at damage control, it only went downhill. Following the interview, the 59-year-old said in a statement that he had asked his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, if he could step down from public engagements “for the foreseeable future”, which she accepted.
He was also told to move his private office out of the Palace, The Times revealed. The move was reportedly authorised by the Queen herself.
The Telegraph reports that he was told to stay away from his much-cherished business venture Pitch@Palace, founded by the Duke of York and run from Buckingham Palace. The “@Palace” part of its name is being removed, as is the clause that allowed him to receive two percent from investment deals.