The BBC's Emily Maitlis grilled Andrew on the details of an alleged encounter in March of that year, when Giuffre says she dined with the prince in London, danced with him at the Tramp nightclub, then had sex with him at a house in the London neighbourhood of Belgravia. Prince Andrew talks to the BBC about his links to Jeffrey Epstein. "I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened," Andrew said. The 59-year-old prince said he had no recollection of ever meeting Giuffre, adding that there are "a number of things that are wrong" with her account. He also suggested that a picture showing him with his arm around the teenage Giuffre may have been faked. There was no immediate comment from Giuffre's representative about the prince's interview, though she retweeted several comments about the interview in the hours after it was broadcast.

Giuffre had recently challenged Andrew to speak out, telling reporters in New York that "he knows exactly what he's done." "And the answer is nothing," Andrew told the BBC. Prince Andrew has suggested that this image of him with Virginia Roberts (now Giuffre) at the London townhouse of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell may have been faked. Epstein killed himself in prison last summer while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, which he had denied. Years earlier, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor. While Andrew defended his friendship with Epstein prior to the Florida case, he said he regretted staying at Epstein's home in Manhattan after the financier's conviction.

"I kick myself for, on a daily basis, because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family. And we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that," he said. He claimed an alleged encounter with Giuffre in London couldn't have occurred on the date reported because he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to a party at a Pizza Express restaurant in the London suburb of Woking that day. The restaurant's website and its listing on TripAdvisor were on Sunday inundated with reviews highlighting the unforgettable pizza on offer. "Always treated like Royalty when you visit," one reviewer wrote. "A great place for an alibi."

Loading Andrew also disputed the details of Giuffre's account, including her statement that he sweated heavily when they danced at the London nightclub. He said that was factually impossible because he had a medical condition at the time that meant he didn't sweat. The prince said the condition stemmed from an "overdose of adrenaline" during his time as a helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War. Those statements attracted ridicule on social media, with one commenter adding a giant slice of pizza to a photo of the prince and Epstein walking through New York's Central Park. Others shared a photo of the prince sweating profusely. One Twitter user captured the reaction of many by posting a video of a man pouring gasoline on a fire. But it was Andrew's failure to show compassion for Epstein's victims that earned him the most scorn.

"Astonished nation watches prince squirm," the Mail on Sunday said in a front-page headline. "Many viewers shocked by 'total lack of empathy.'" In one particularly shocking encounter, Andrew told Maitlis that convicted sex offender Epstein had "acted in a manner that was unbecoming". Andrew's decision to grant an interview that went into forensic detail about his well-documented ties to a sex offender was a high-stakes gamble in a country where royals traditionally don't submit to such questioning. When royals speak at all, they usually offer carefully considered comments about charitable works. Andrew appears to have agreed to the interview against the advice of the public relations consultant hired to try to revive his image in the wake of the Epstein revelations. Jason Stein tried to convince him not to do the interview and quit his post two weeks ago after Andrew insisted on going ahead, the Sunday Times reported.

Loading "I have never seen anything so disastrous. For any students of PR, that is how not to do it," crisis consultant Mark Borkowski told Britain's Press Association. "It was like watching a man in quicksand and, unfortunately, I don't think anyone would have thrown him a line to get him out." Andrew, who is eighth in line to the throne, did have some defenders. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, said before the BBC interview that it "is so rare to meet people that are able to speak from their hearts with honesty and pure real truth."