Princess Beatrice was 'a complete curveball' during Prince Andrew's Newsnight interview

She was unexpectedly in the room with him and Emily Maitlis.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York sits next to his daughter Princess Beatrice during the Trooping the Colour ceremony on June 16, 2007 in London. Each year the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II is commemorated with a military parade and march-past of fully trained, operational troops from the Household Division.
LONDON - JUNE 16: Prince Andrew, Duke of York sits next to his daughter Princess Beatrice during the Trooping the Colour ceremony on June 16, 2007 in London. Each year the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II is commemorated with a military parade and march-past of fully trained, operational troops from the Household Division. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

She was unexpectedly in the room with him and Emily Maitlis.

When new accusations emerged regarding Prince Andrew's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the royal attempted to clear his name by agreeing to an hour-long interview with Emily Maitlis on BBC's Newsnight, which aired in 2019.

While the interview was widely viewed as a "car crash" for Andrew, who made a number of eyebrow-raising statements about his involvement in Epstein's criminal activity, the crew apparently also ran into difficulties behind the scenes.

One such difficulty was the unexpected presence of Andrew's eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, in the room during the interview.

A producer behind Newsnight at the time, Sam McAlister, recently told Times Radio about the incident.

"On the face of it, the reason he bought her is that they were going out, they were going to have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee afterwards," Sam said (via Express).

"So I don't think she'd known he was doing this conversation."

Sam added: "When she found out, understandably, someone wanting to protect her father, obviously that's what any daughter would want to do, she asked to come along too.

"That was my impression. She was kind of there apropos of nothing and suddenly she was in that room with us."

The former producer called Beatrice "a complete curveball in my negotiation tactic."

Despite Beatrice's presence, though, interviewer Emily Maitlis was able to well and truly grill Andrew about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

He was understood to have a friendship with the former financier, who was charged with sex trafficking of minors. One of his accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, also made allegations against the Duke of York - which he has always strenuously denied - and started a lawsuit against him.

However, a settlement was reached in February 2022 before the case went to trial. The settlement is not an admission of guilt.

Since the lawsuit was dropped earlier this year, Prince Charles and Prince William are said to have 'blocked' Andrew's return to royal duties.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire.
As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles.
Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York.
As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.