Fuming Susanna Reid shuts down interview with Prince Andrew's ex over wild claim
Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend Lady Victoria Hervey made a series of wild claims on the latest instalment of Good Morning Britain, forcing Susanna Reid to bring the interview to an abrupt end.
Lady Victoria, who briefly dated the Duke of York in 1999, appeared on the breakfast programme on Thursday morning to speak with Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard.
Sitting in the ITV studio alongside lawyer and campaigner Dr Charlotte Proudman, they discussed recent reports that the late Queen suggested the disgraced Prince consider charitable work as a route back to public life.
Lady Victoria claimed that the Duke of York now plans to challenge his multi-million settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual assault while she was underage.
She alleges she was forced to have sex with Andrew aged 17 by the condemned financier Jeffrey Epstein and jailed socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. He has vehemently denied the claims.
Corrie's Sue Cleaver says I'm A Celebrity stint helped her to push boundariesIn February, Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement with Ms Giuffre, which included a donation to her charity ‘in support of victims’ rights’. He made no admission of liability.
Lady Victoria said: “He doesn’t have that much to lose anymore, so he’s going to fight her. I think the gloves are coming off. He’s been waiting for this moment for the past year.”
Lady Victoria maintains the infamous photo of Andrew with his arm around accuser Ms Giuffre is fake, which she claimed on the ITV programme she can prove.
As Lady Victoria then went on to voice allegations regarding Ms Giuffre, Susanna cut in to stop discussions which could not be substantiated on the programme.
She said: “Let’s keep to the point. I’m not going to argue that Virginia Giuffre is a victim. She is without doubt a victim.”
Lady Victoria then outrageously replied claiming she was not and was a ‘liar’, prompting Dr Charlotte in the studio to warn the socialite about her language.
She said: “Be careful with that, because even Prince Andrew accepted she is a victim of sex trafficking,” yet Lady Victoria only doubled down, alleging: “He has to say that. There’s a lot of stuff coming out about her that she’s a complete con artist.”
Lady Victoria then turned to Susanna and called her out for ‘smirking’, which the Good Morning Britain host insisted she was not.
As Lady Victoria then called on Susanna to make a bet live on air over whether her Prince Andrew claims were true, Susanna flatly refused and labelled the suggestion ‘outrageous’.
Returning to the original point, Dr Charlotte said: “I think it’s absolutely perverse to suggest the role of charities is to rehabilitate the image of someone accused of sex trafficking.”
Richard 'shuts up' GMB guest who says Hancock 'deserved' being called 'd***head'Lady Victoria then claimed: “This is not sex trafficking. A lot of these girls are liars. A lot of these girls have made it up.”
The comments were explosive enough to prompt Susanna to bring the interview to an abrupt end, as she said: “You cannot smear victims of sex trafficking who have already been through hell.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.