Prince Andrew's career-ending interview about his friend Jeffrey Epstein earned a BAFTA nomination for Best News Coverage. The awards event has an awkward connection to the Duke of York's nephew, Prince William, who has been the president of BAFTA since 2010.
According to People, Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, often attend the BAFTA movie awards night, which is considered the British equivalent of Hollywood's Oscars. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, however, haven't been to a BAFTA TV awards night, where Prince Andrew's interview has been listed as a finalist.
BAFTA will hand out the TV awards in July. However, the event this year will be held virtually amid the threats of the coronavirus, per Deadline. Winners will be accepting their awards virtually as well.
If the Prince Andrew interview nomination wins, the award will actually go to Newsnight and BBC, as well as the journalist who sat down with the duke, Emily Maitlis. Incidentally, the journalist also won an award in February from the Royal Television Society for her hard-hitting questions to Prince Andrew.
In the wake of that Newsnight broadcast, Prince Andrew was forced to step down from his royal duties because it exposed the duke to so much public scrutiny. In a statement announcing his resignation, Prince Andrew said that his association with his friend, Epstein, has been a "major disruption" to the work and the charities supported by the royal family. Thus, he sought the Queen's permission to step back from his royal roles.
Prince Andrew said that he continues to regret his "ill-judged association" with Epstein, who committed suicide in August 2019, as he awaited his trial in a U.S. prison for human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors. The Newsnight interview was supposed to exonerate the Duke of York amid a lot of talk of his friendship with the disgraced billionaire. Instead, it became a public relations disaster, according to FOX News.
Meanwhile, reports now say that Prince Andrew's temporary step back is deemed permanent. Sources said that the royal family haven't been revisiting Prince Andrew's role and status as a working royal since his resignation in November. This likely means that the royal will no longer be asked to represent Queen Elizabeth in royal functions permanently, to protect the reputation of the Queen and the Crown.
The Epstein sex scandal is still under court investigations. Prince Andrew has reportedly been asked to shed light on the cases but his legal team advised him not to talk.
