There are journalists. And then there’s Emily Maitlis.
For more than three decades, the acclaimed broadcaster has sat opposite prime ministers, presidents, political heavyweights and cultural power players – asking the questions most people are too nervous to ask, and refusing to move on until she gets an answer.
This week on marie claire Australia’s podcast, You’re Gonna Want To Hear This, editor Georgie McCourt sits down with the woman behind one of the most talked-about interviews of the modern era: the now-infamous 2019 sit-down with Prince Andrew. And, true to form, Maitlis doesn’t hold back.
Listen To You’re Gonna Want To Hear This
In a candid, often laugh-out-loud conversation that moves seamlessly from global politics to motherhood, media scrutiny and the mechanics of a great interview, Maitlis reveals what was really going through her mind in the moments before that royal interview – admitting she locked herself in a Buckingham Palace bathroom to recalibrate.
“I felt sick, actually,” she tells McCourt. “I found a loo at Buckingham Palace… and I remember just locking the door and slumping against the back thinking, what is about to happen?”
It’s the kind of detail that makes this episode so interesting: beneath the formidable broadcaster is a woman who still gets nervous, still dreams about not being prepared, and still believes journalism is 80 per cent preparation and 20 per cent surrendering to chaos.
“You are crazy if you go into these moments without having done the prep,” she says. “And then there is this amazing relinquishing moment.”
Of course, it’s Maitlis’ reflections on the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor interview that will stop listeners in their tracks.
For the first time on the marie claire podcast, she takes us back inside that gilded ballroom at Buckingham Palace – the chandeliers, the throne-like chairs, the overwhelming sense that she had walked into “his den.”
She reveals the interview had only been confirmed 48 hours before, that she feared Andrew might simply filibuster his way through the hour, and that the moment he voluntarily mentioned Jeffrey Epstein in his opening answer, she knew they were on track.
“The moment he confirmed that we were talking about Epstein, I knew whatever he said would be extraordinary,” she says.
When asked what it felt like sitting opposite one of the most powerful men in Britain as he delivered the now-infamous lines about Pizza Express and his inability to sweat, Maitlis offers a response that is as forensic as it is fascinating.
“It didn’t make me angry, because it was all being recorded,” she explains. “I was there to create a document of public record.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Maitlis opens up about being labelled a “silly little girl” early in her career, raising children under the glare of tabloid scrutiny, and the confidence that only comes with age and repetition.
“I meet so many brilliant women in their 40s and 50s who are at the peak of their careers,” McCourt tells her.
Maitlis agrees – and says the best advice she can offer women is simple:
“Choose your battles carefully… and then fight for them.”
It’s exactly the kind of conversation that reminds you why great journalism still matters.
Listen to Emily Maitlis on You’re Gonna Want To Hear This now – wherever you get your podcasts.
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