Prince Andrew faces an extraordinary public humiliation as the National Portrait Gallery is set to acquire a photograph from his fateful Newsnight interview.
It could mean putting it on display with millions of visitors able to see a record of what is widely considered the most disastrous interview in royal history, when the BBC’s Emily Maitlis grilled the Duke of York on sex allegations made against him.
His failure to apologise for his friendship with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein led to him being stripped of his royal title and duties.
The gallery – a public body linked to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport – last night said it is looking to add the image to its permanent collection.
The photograph records the moment after the interview when the Duke naively declared to his interrogator ‘that went well didn’t it’ as they walked together through Buckingham Palace.
Royal commentator Margaret Holder said having the image on display would be a ‘symbol of his disgrace [and] of his downfall as the son of a monarch, the brother of a monarch and a father’.
The gallery’s royal patron is the Princess of Wales but she has no say over what works are added to the gallery’s collection. After six months of private talks, gallery chiefs are expected to make a final decision soon. But sources said a verdict has been on hold while a new chief curator is appointed.
The image was first assessed by the gallery’s curatorial team after being offered by photographer Mark Harrison, who already has images there.
It passed the ‘first curatorial acquisitions meeting’, which the gallery’s website says means it ‘believes that an offer should go forwards for acquisition’.
A print is due to be delivered to the gallery and viewed, before being considered by a second curatorial acquisitions meeting and the board of trustees, which makes the final decision.
The board is appointed by the Prime Minister and includes Carphone Warehouse co-founder David Ross, historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore and artist Jonathan Yeo, who painted the first official portrait of King Charles since his coronation.
The gallery, which welcomes more than 1.6million visitors a year, says it is the ‘national museum responsible for the history of British portraiture. Its mission is to maintain a collection of portraits of the most eminent persons in British history.’
Gallery sources said no decision has yet been made over public display of the photograph. But all acquisitions are automatically displayed on its website.
It follows reports the duke will be forced to leave Royal Lodge, with the King no longer prepared to fund security costs, believed to be £3million a year. Ms Holder said the acquisition of a photograph linked to ‘a pivotal moment’ in the duke’s ‘downfall’ could embarrass the Princess of Wales.
She added: ‘I would ask the gallery to consider whether they actually want to create problems for their patron.’
She also said the acquisition was a ‘further humiliation for Prince Andrew at a time when there is considerable coverage of the King wanting him out of Royal Lodge’.
Royal biographer Hugo Vickers told The Mail on Sunday he had no issue with the gallery acquiring the image but there was a question about whether it should be put on public display.
He said: ‘The Newsnight interview was an iconic interview – my instinct would be to acquire it but then place it in the library. They don’t have to display it, they can just keep it. But in a hundred years time it might prove to be particularly interesting for one reason or another.’
Mr Harrison last night said he was surprised anyone knew about his talks with the gallery which he added had taken place ‘over the last six months’.
Andrew Lownie, who is working on a biography of Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York said the gallery should acquire the image.
He said: ‘I am sure Prince Andrew is not going to be happy with this because the interview was not his finest moment. But the interview and the photograph is a piece of history.
‘This is an iconic image, and should be in the collection. The gallery’s job is to record images and history and this photograph is part of that.’