Friday 2 September 2022 11:01 PM Emily Maitlis reveals Prince Andrew was PLEASED with car crash 2019 interview trends now

Former Newsnight host Emily Maitlis has revealed a 'chatty' Prince Andrew thought his infamous 2019 car crash interview with the BBC star went positively despite him having to step back from royal duties just days later.

The journalist, 51, made the stunning admission in an interview with the Times in which the 'very pleased' Duke is said to have been 'unaware' that the grilling he received over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein would later see him exiled from public life.

Maitlis, who pulls no punches in her comments on Prince Andrew, her former employer and the future of journalism, shared how not even her parents were aware of the fact she had landed the interview of the decade.

A source close to Prince Andrew is said to have remarked before the now-notorious interview was aired: 'He [Andrew] went on one of his "straightforward shooting weekends" and told everyone he was happy.'

Buckingham Palace, who did not lodge any official complaint in the wake of what turned out to be a devastating interview, are understood to have described the discussion as 'firm but fair'.

Maitlis, who last week caused uproar at the BBC for her comments over an 'active' Conservative party agent infiltrating the corporation, laid into her former employer again for perceived 'self-censorship'.

'I've always felt strongly that we have a real responsibility in those big positions of broadcasting to tackle our subjects robustly without fear of offending or upsetting those in power', she explained.

'It’s important to me to be able to do that properly, rather than self-censor all the time, and I increasingly found I couldn’t.'

She added: 'The BBC management thinks: "Blimey, we've got to be really careful of what we say or they’ll take away our funding."

'But I’d argue the opposite, that if we’re not doing our job properly, holding the government to account, we don’t deserve to ask the public to give us money.'

A BBC spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The BBC places the highest value on due impartiality and accuracy and we apply these principles to our reporting on all issues.'

Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis is pictured ahead of the now infamous interview Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace in November of 2019

Emily Maitlis' shares her thoughts on 'self-censorship' at the BBC, the debate over balance and the Conservatives

On her tenure at the BBC:

'The last thing I want to do is join the army of BBC critics, because I have had the most phenomenal two decades there.

'I felt a tiny bit grubby the day I said I was leaving the BBC as it was my home, there were people I adored and I couldn’t tell them all before the news broke.

'Inevitably, the BBC is the lightning rod for anything that any government in power doesn’t like, but I think the attacks have intensified too far – we have a government that no longer sees the point of public-sector broadcasting.'

On self-censorship and when she realised her BBC career was coming to an end:

'On a practical level, there were projects I couldn’t just do. I kept having to say, "I’ll ask, but it’s probably a no."

'I also didn’t want to stay if it meant being less good at my job. I’ve always felt strongly that we have a real responsibility in those big positions of broadcasting to tackle our subjects robustly without fear of offending or upsetting those in power.

'It’s important to me to be able to do that properly, rather than self-censor all the time, and I increasingly found I couldn’t.'

On the need for balance at the national broadcaster:

'Balance is a word we always used at the BBC but balance is complicated.

'If it takes me five minutes to find ten economists who all think Brexit is a terrible idea, but five hours to find an economist who says it will be absolutely brilliant, then having one on each side isn’t balanced.

'If we don’t show our workings to the audience and tell them how difficult it was to get an alternative view, we are not being honest.'

On the future of journalism:

'I think politics has altered fundamentally and journalism and broadcasting in particular have not yet caught up.

'We haven’t realised that when people say fake news they are trying to disorientate you and demean your work, so they can then ignore any scrutiny you put them under. It’s a game that the politicians are playing that the BBC, in particular, doesn’t understand.'

Maitlis was elevated to broadcasting royalty after grilling the Duke at Buckingham Palace in 2019 over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The interview later went on to win the scoop of the year at the Royal Television Society Awards in 2020.

She revealed she thought the Prince had 'behaved rather well' both during and after their talk.

'He had given us this hour in the palace and was willing to talk about stuff. Most politicians now won't even talk about their own policies. So at least he had guts'.

Later, Prince Andrew politely gave the journalist a guided tour of the palace - pointing out where Queen Elizabeth was and promising to show her around again during a subsequent trip.

The interview with the Duke at Buckingham Palace was widely viewed as disastrous for the

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