BBC presenter Kay Burley sparked criticism after describing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a “war hero” during a discussion on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal while sitting alongside an Epstein survivor.
The comments came during Monday’s episode of the BBC program Newsnight, which examined reports that Pizza Express had launched an internal inquiry into whether the former prince visited its Woking location after he claimed in a 2019 interview that he was there on March 10, 2001.
The date became significant because it was the same day Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was accused of having sexual relations with Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers. Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrongdoing. During the panel discussion, campaigner Lisa Phillips, who has spoken publicly about surviving abuse connected to Epstein, and had encouraged other survivors to come forward. As the segment ended, Burley added a comment about the former prince’s military background.
“And we should accept that he was a war hero. We should just throw that in,” Burley said.
“He was,” she added as presenter Victoria Derbyshire closed the discussion and thanked the panel.
The remark drew quick backlash from critics who questioned the decision to talk about Mountbatten-Windsor’s military service during a discussion involving allegations against him with Epstein survivors.
