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The Queen did not give her approval for the Duke of York’s Newsnight interview about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

Palace insiders last night (Sunday) accused the Duke’s private office of “operating in a silo” as it emerged Her Majesty was only made aware of the prime time interrogation by Emily Maitlis after it had been set up.

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Rather than ending speculation about the Duke’s behaviour, the hour-long programme revived the controversy and generated fresh questions about his movements and various “alibis” he gave.

Serious questions were being asked at the Palace about why the Duke had been exposed to a no-holds-barred interview without any preconditions attached. It left him having to answer repeated questions about whether he had ever had sex with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an Epstein sex slave, when she was 17, or with other young girls.

One former senior courtier described the interview as “excruciating” while others said it was a “car crash” but sources close to the Duke said he stood by his decision and claimed he had answered the questions with “honesty and humility”.