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Cape Town – Prince Andrew addressed his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and denied the sexual misconduct allegations against him in an explosive tell-all interview on Saturday – but according to body language expert and psychologist, Darren Stanton, the Duke of York "didn't appear to be genuine".
Stanton told Mirror, "The behaviour I observed during the documentary is consistent with someone being evasive and potentially deceptive." The TV Human Lie Detector, as he's known, speaks of "leakage" – "interesting gestures which are the body's unconscious gestures" when being interrogated.
When the prince was questioned by BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis, and things got a little more intense, his body language wasn't consistent with someone telling the truth.
"I noted Prince Andrew, at times, appeared to feign or overcompensate some expression of surprise. Either he was already aware of the information and tried to again distance himself from already knowing it, or he was trying to convey total surprise. Either way, it didn't appear to be genuine."
Stanton also said that Prince Andrew did not completely deny meeting Virginia Giuffre – the woman making the claims that she was forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions – instead, he used "evasive, non-committal language" and "distancing language".
"He has very stoic body language," Stanton said. "I believe he has been heavily coached."
Though Prince Andrew alluded to wanting to address the allegations for a while now – it wasn't a spur of the moment decision – experts other than Stanton have also weighed in on the royal's decision to speak up.
Image consultant Mark Borkowski said it was "like watching a man in quicksand" and that he had "never seen anything so disastrous", while the queen's former press secretary Dickie Arbiter called the interview a "rotten idea".
"Prince Andrew doesn't regret his relationship with Epstein because he made useful contacts. Dear god – no remorse for Epstein's victims but an abundance of arrogance," Dickie wrote on Twitter.
#PrinceAndrew doesn't regret his relationship with Epstein because he made useful contacts. Dear god - no remorse for #Epstein's victims but an abundance of arrogance
— Dickie Arbiter (@RoyalDickie) November 16, 2019
The royal was criticised for his lack of judgement and empathy with Epstein's victims, while his eyebrow-raising defence that he was at a high street pizza chain, never sweated and only stayed at the disgraced financier's home because it was "convenient" didn't make his account any more believable.
Dickie wrote, "He's done himself no favours."
READ MORE HERE: Prince Andrew denies sexual misconduct allegations in explosive interview
Compiled by Bashiera Parker (Sources: Channel24, Mirror, Twitter)
(Photo: Getty Images)
