Jason Stein confirmed he resigned two weeks ago (Picture: Rex/PA)

Prince Andrew’s PR guru quit two weeks ago, after he had warned the duke not to give a TV interview about his connection to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Jason Stein, 28, only started his job as communications secretary to the Duke of York in September but resigned before Andrew spoke to the BBC’s Newsnight programme about sex allegations made against him.

Mr Stein lost his previous job as special adviser to Amber Rudd when she quit as Work and Pensions Secretary in protest at Boris Johnson removing the whip from 21 MPs over Brexit.

The ‘no holds barred’ interview with Prince Andrew was filmed at Buckingham Palace on Thursday and broadcast on Saturday night.




Reaction has broadly branded it a PR disaster with one royal expert calling it ‘nuclear explosion level bad’.

The Duke of York speaking for the first time about his links to Jeffrey Epstein in an interview with BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis (Picture: PA)

Jason Stein worked as communications secretary for the Duke of York for just four weeks before he quit over the Newsnight interview (Picture: Rex)

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According to The Times, Mr Stein left ‘by mutual consent’ after advising to Duke not to speak to Newsnight, warning it could backfire.

A palace source told the newspaper that last night’s interview would ‘go down as one of the single worst PR moves in recent history’.

Sky News claims Mr Stein confirmed his resignation to them saying he quit over the duke’s decision to agree to the TV interview.

Viewers were left stunned when the Duke of York told presenter Emily Maitlis he had taken daughter Princess Beatrice to Pizza Express on the date he is accused of having sex with Virginia Roberts – now named Virginia Giuffre.

Mrs Giuffre is one of 16 women who says she was abused by Epstein and claimed she was forced to have sex with the prince three times between 2001 and 2002.

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Epstein, 66, a convicted sex offender, was found dead in a New York jail cell in August while awaiting federal trial for sex trafficking.

The Duke was grilled about his controversial friendship with the disgraced billionaire, saying he did not regret their relationship.

He admitted it was wrong to have stayed with Epstein after he was accused of child abuse and admitted that he ‘let the side down’ but claims he had no idea ‘what was going on’.

Mrs Giuffre said she was trafficked when she was 17 and was forced into sexual encounters with the Duke in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein.

But the Duke claims he could not have had sex with her because he had taken his daughter to the pizza chain in Woking on the alleged date.

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Speaking of the allegations Mrs Giuffre has claimed against him, the prince said he had ‘no recollection’ of ever meeting her.

Ms Maitlis said Mrs Guiffre had been ‘very specific’ about Andrew that night, claiming he was ‘profusely sweating’ and that she went on to have a bath.

But the duke said there was a ‘slight problem’ with that story – claiming he was unable to perspire at the time.

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