Five problems with Prince Andrew’s interview

Given the first rule of crisis PR is to be proactive and transparent, it's difficult to criticise Prince Andrew for giving an interview.

Nevertheless, it was an incredibly risky move. Presumably every media outlet would have jumped at – and made significant concessions to secure – the interview. A blind no-holds-barred hour-long interview with Newsnight would have been the last choice for any sane media adviser. 

For the interview to work in his favour, Andrew needed to come across as honest, remorseful and empathetic. Instead, his demeanour reeked of someone coached by a lawyer to avoid incriminating himself: deny everything, don’t apologise, cast doubt on the (alleged) victim’s story.

Irrespective of whether he was telling the truth or not, there were five major problems with Andrew’s performance:

1.    His answers weren't credible

His excuses simply didn’t make sense. His assertion that he was being honourable by telling Epstein face-to-face they could no longer be friends (even though they weren't close friends and hadn’t been in contact for years) would have been comical if the allegations weren’t so serious. 

His explanation that he repeatedly stayed with Epstein because it was convenient (more convenient than a hotel?) also beggars belief.

These irrational excuses made it hard to believe him.

2.    His tone wasn't appropriate for the severity of the accusations

Such serious allegations demanded a sombre and contrite tone but he chortled several times and seemed oddly over-enthusiastic. At one highly-surreal point he started selling his charity, oblivious to the fact the very interview he was giving would likely end his involvement with it.   

3.    He failed to show empathy for Epstein's victims

Andrew could have expressed sympathy for the victims while also denying knowledge of Epstein’s crimes; those two positions are not mutually exclusive. That he didn’t made him seem cold and uncaring.

The only time he spoke about the impact of Epstein’s actions on anyone was in relation to his own mental health. And his assertion that there would be “just as much closure for me as there is for anyone else” was mind-blowingly narcissistic.

4.    He failed to apologise or express regret for his actions

One would expect Andrew to be angry with Epstein, embarrassed at their friendship and remorseful for his inability to see what was going on. But he was none of these things.

Incredibly, he declined the opportunity to say he regretted his friendship with Epstein. It’s difficult to understand his thinking – I assume he was desperate to maintain the narrative that he was ignorant of Epstein’s crimes at all costs.

At the very least he needed to apologise for staying with a convicted sex offender but the closest he came was “I let the side down”, which must be the understatement of the millennium.

5.    His language was detached and out-of-touch.

“Honourable”, “unbecoming”, “just a straightforward shooting weekend”; these are phrases from a bygone era, when Royals were above scrutiny.

Those times are long gone.

Ultimately, Prince Andrew had the wrong objective for this interview: he tried to convince us he’d done nothing wrong when he should have been seeking forgiveness.