Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's risky decision to grant a single TV interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein proved to be a disastrous PR blunder. In October 2025, King Charles III began proceedings to strip his younger brother of his royal title as the Duke of York and evict him from Royal Lodge - the sprawling Windsor mansion where Andrew lived since 2003 thanks to a controversial "peppercorn lease." Mountbatten-Windsor moved into temporary accommodations on the king's Sandringham estate mere days before shocking archival photos from Epstein's estate were released by the Justice Department in February 2026. The domino effect of Mountbatten-Windsor's downfall started six years earlier when he agreed to a "no holds barred" interview with journalist Emily Maitlis for the BBC's Newsnight program. Mountbatten-Windsor's credibility took a major hit as he deflected questions about his past with Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who previously accused the royal of sexually assaulting her three times, including once in 2001 when she was 17. (Mountbatten-Windsor denied having any sexual contact with Giuffre. He reached a private settlement with her in 2022 when she sued him for sexual assault.) Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in April 2021. Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images In the aftermath of the Newsnight interview, Buckingham Palace announced that the then-prince would suspend his public duties "for the foreseeable future" and he also resigned as the chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Mountbatten-Windsor's Newsnight interview resurfaced in December 2025 when the Justice Department released photos and emails that the former prince allegedly exchanged with the disgraced financier. (Mountbatten-Windsor has never faced criminal charges. The Metropolitan Police announced in December 2025 that it would "take no further action" against him over historic accusations that he asked his taxpayer-funded security officers to find dirt on Giuffre.) Keep scrolling for a look at some of the most controversial moments from Mountbatten-Windsor's 2019 Newsnight interview. Prince Andrew Claimed He Cut Off All Contact with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010 Emily Maitlis repeatedly pressed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor during their Newsnight discussion about the last time he spoke with Epstein. According to Mountbatten-Windsor, he cut off all communication after visiting Epstein at his New York City mansion in December 2010. The visit occurred after Epstein served a 18-month prison sentence in Florida for pleading guilty to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008. Asked why he'd stayed at Epstein's mansion, the royal explained: "I have always ... ever since this has happened and since this has become, as it were, public knowledge that I was there, I've questioned myself as to why did I go and what was I doing and was it the right thing to do? Now, I went there with the sole purpose of saying to him that because he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen together." Mountbatten-Windsor admitted he'd had "a number of people counsel" him in terms of whether it was appropriate to meet directly with Epstein. Biggest Bombshells From Virginia Giuffre's Unseen Interview About Andrew "I took the judgement call that, because this was serious, and I felt that doing it over the telephone was the chicken's way of doing it. I had to go and see him and talk to him," he clarified. The former Duke of York relayed that he went on a walk with Epstein in Central Park to explain why he was ending their friendship. (A paparazzi photograph of the pair together in Central Park later caused a major scandal in the U.K.) "I said to [Epstein] ... 'Look, because of what has happened, I don't think it is appropriate that we should remain in contact,' and by mutual agreement during that walk in the park we decided that we would part company and I left, I think it was the next day. To this day, I never had any contact with him from that day forward," Mountbatten-Windsor. Later in the interview, Mountbatten-Windsor reiterated to Maitlis that he never again saw or spoke to Epstein after his December 2010 visit. However, new questions about the veracity of those statements emerged in 2025 due to alleged leaked email correspondence between Mountbatten-Windsor and Epstein. One email dated in February 2011 - two months after Mountbatten-Windsor's visit to New York City - allegedly saw him reacting sympathetically to the publication of paparazzi photos taken during his Central Park stroll with Epstein. "I'm just as concerned for you! Don't worry about me!" the prince allegedly wrote. "It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it." Mountbatten-Windsor allegedly closed the email by asking Epstein to "otherwise keep in close touch" so they could "play some more soon!!!!" Prince Andrew Said He Had 'No Recollection' of Ever Meeting Virginia Giuffre Emily Maitlis spent a