#Prince Andrew calls infamous BBC interview ‘source of regret,’ insider says

Andrew, the disgraced second son of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, believes the BBC interview that jumpstarted his public downward spiral is “a source of regret,” The Sunday Times of London reported.

The former friend of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein also won’t cooperate with US authorities unless they offer him an “olive branch,” according to the report

In November, Andrew, 60, tried to deny he had ever slept with Epstein’s sex slaves because he can’t sweat. Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, however, insists the prince “sweat all over” her when she was forced to have sex with him in 2001.

“There’s a slight problem with, with, with, with the sweating,” Andrew then told the BBC’s Emily Maitlis. “Because I have a peculiar medical condition, which is that I don’t sweat, or I didn’t sweat at the time … because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at.”

Though the public was quick to call BS at the excuse, Andrew told his Queen mummy that the interview was “a great success,” according to the report.

A source close to the Duke of York said: “I don’t think he regrets the intention behind the interview, which was to clear the air for his family, the royal family and the institution. But the fact he was unable to appropriately or sufficiently convey his sympathy for the victims of Epstein, is of course a source of regret.”

The prince won’t budge when it comes to cooperating with the FBI, and needs “trust rebuilt” before he considers doing so. Last week, Andrew’s legal team said the Justice Department “breach[ed] their own confidentiality rules” and claimed they have offered assistance three times this year.

However, the lead federal prosecutor in New York says otherwise.

“Prince Andrew yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to co-operate. The prince has not given an interview to federal authorities, has repeatedly declined our request to schedule such an interview, and informed us unequivocally that he would not come in for such an interview,” Geoffrey Berman told the newspaper.

Andrew’s camp maintains the FBI is leaking information, which is stopping him from participating in the investigation.

“The duke is not going any further in the co-operation process until the DOJ begin to behave honorably, unless they have given him some signal acknowledging there has been a significant breach of trust, and offering some kind of olive branch to rebuild trust,” said a source close to the royal.

A royal insider said Andrew’s Epstein affiliations will haunt him for life.

“Even if down the line, all the criminal and civil cases are over and Andrew is completely exonerated, the stain will always be there, with the suspicion he was party to what went on. Those photos [with Epstein and Giuffre] will always exist,” they said.

His royal relatives are upset with the duke. Though the queen is “privately supportive” of her son, another source close to the palace said she’s losing understanding.

“The idea that the Queen will simply indulge Prince Andrew is wide of the mark. Her patience has been wearing thin for a long time. She had resisted this slimming down of the monarchy but it’s fair to say she is not now standing in the way of that in her lifetime,” they said.

Palace officials are angry at Andrew because the report about his indiscretions overshadowed Prince Philip’s 99th birthday, which was Wednesday.