A Belfast lawyer to the stars has said the Duke of York’s decision to proceed with a now infamous interview with BBC Newsnight against his advice was ‘insanity’.
Paul Tweed, who has acted in high profile defamation cases for a series of top names, is writing a new book on his career.
He spoke to The Sunday Times ahead of the launch of From Holywood to Hollywood, due to be released next month.
Mr Tweed reflected on the ‘disastrous’ interview given by Andrew about his relationship with the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“I knew it (the interview) was a bad idea. That’s not just Prince Andrew, (it’s) any client,” he told The Sunday Times.
“To expose a client in that type of interview, unprepared, to go into a very experienced interviewer in Emily Maitlis, it was insanity. It was madness to do it. I made that clear.”
In the 2019 interview, Andrew said he had no memory of ever meeting Virginia Giuffre, who has alleged she was “forced to have sexual relations” with Andrew when she was 17. Andrew has always strenuously denied the claims.
In 2022, the Duke paid her an undisclosed financial settlement to settle her sex assault lawsuit against him, but did so with no admission as to liability.
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Mr Tweed had been pictured with Andrew at Royal Portrush Golf Club three months before the BBC interview took place.
While he was a friend of the York family, and had previously acted for Sarah, Duchess of York, Andrew’s ex-wife, on other unrelated matters, he was not working as Andrew’s lawyer.
Reflecting on the Duke’s choice to ignore his advice and proceed with the interview, which has come to be regarded as a case study in calamitous PR, Mr Tweed said: “It was solely Andrew’s decision. He decided to do it and the rest is history.”
He said last week that he maintained contact with the Royal Family and was “still doing work for certain members”.
“At the end of the day, there are always two sides to every story. When we talk about the court of law and the court of public opinion, you’ve probably got a prime example there,” he said of the meeting.
Mr Tweed told The Sunday Times he will not be “bullied by any public opinion” about his association with the Duke when asked if that had harmed his own reputation.
“I am not going to be bullied by any public opinion in terms of what I do. I do what I felt was right,” he added.
“I thought it would be no harm, just for him to be photographed with a libel lawyer.
“Bear in mind this was about three months before the Newsnight interview. At that stage, it was just about trying to get it across to him. You are dealing with someone who is not used to day-to-day life,” he said.
The Belfast lawyer acknowledged the divisive nature of his decision to meet Andrew and urge him not to participate in the interview.
“People will either love me or hate me for it,” he said.
During his career Mr Tweed has been sought out by the likes of Liam Neeson, Justin Timberlake, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez, among a stellar list of clients.
His memoir will give an account of his high-flying career, legal victories and explore his concerns about AI and unregulated social media platforms.