This was straight from the playbook of the former Prince Andrew – the boorish royal also refused to apologise in his now infamous BBC interview with Emily Maitlis which abruptly ended his career in public life. He pleaded total ignorance of Epstein's notorious proclivities, claiming he knew nothing of them because he is gay. Yet it was the Epstein relationship that caused his humiliating public dismissal from the ambassador job seven months later. The BBC interview was an unmitigated disaster, and damagingly condemned by Labour ministers. One associate of Mandelson told me: 'It was intended as the start of the long road to yet another comeback.

Source: Daily Mail January 13, 2026 00:37 UTC