‘Fierce fallout’, ’nuclear explosion’, ‘baffling moment’, ’noxious interview’, ’national joke’, ‘car-crash’.
These are just some of the phrases used by the media to describe the BBC Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Short of absolutely not doing the interview, could Prince Andrew have done any better?
Regardless of his many questionable answers, the one and only thing his royal schooling obviously helped with was his ability to keep his cool in what was doomed to be a train wreck from the moment he agreed to do the interview. His PR advisor even quit after advising him against doing it, but could there have been a way around it?
As the prince rightly said, “there’s no good time” to talk about this issue. He did this interview thinking that if he answered the cloud of questions surrounding his friendship with Epstein, then he could move on with his royal duties. It also appears to have been sanctioned by the queen, as the interview was done in Buckingham Palace itself, so we must give both Prince Andrew and the royals credit for having the balls to expose themselves to such an obvious scandal. However the plus points for this interview, ends here.
The question now is whether he has just inadvertently given a deposition that can be used in the US courts and if he has exposed himself to a possible extradition to the US to assist in the investigations against Epstein.
So as a communicator, this interview is a journalist’s trophy; as a PR practitioner, this is a nightmare – a nuclear fallout with an ever increasing number of casualties and damage.
He really should have listened to his PR advisor, cause the Duke of Yoke may have just stripped himself of his royal title.
#PrinceAndrew #JeffreyEpstein #PRCrisis #RantauGolin