Prince Andrew's visit to the USA and Today show appearance: February 6-15 2008

[Wingfield07]

Prince Andrew was on The Today Show on NBC (in the USA) this morning. The interview was taped, not live. He gave a tour of a few state rooms in Buckingham Palace, and talked about his early life, the future role of his daughters and his admiration for his ex-wife.

Meredith Viera conducted the interview, and have to say I was surprised at some of her questions: "Have you ever been naughty?" and "Do you have any fantasies?" which seemed to catch him off guard!

Link for the interview with a video download is at
Prince Andrew: Fergie keeping kids grounded - TODAY: People - MSNBC.com

[Royal Fan]

It was great lol seems a nice enough Fellow! My Opinion has changed of him.

[foxfan]

I think that interview was great. I also think it is great that he aknowledges that Sarah brought an important perspective to how his girls were raised.

[iowabelle]

I really don't like Meredith Vieira, and I thought she came off rather poorly. (I don't care for her sense of humor, she's always trying to be funny, and she just isn't.) At one point she was pawing at the Duke and was very flirtatious with him. The "naughty" question was about whether he had been a naughty child. I thought he was going to be rude about her question about his fantasies. That question was really, "If you hadn't been born a prince, what would you have wanted to do?" And he said he didn't know.

Some of his answers were interesting. He complained about the cold lunches he had had as a child, because the nursery was located so far away from the BP kitchens. And it seems that, as a child, he was free to walk all over BP, nothing was off-limits. He said there were places he didn't go (the inference was that he wasn't interested in grown-up places like the State Apartments or offices)... but that he preferred to play sports of all kinds upstairs, where he was amazed that he never broke any of the glass display cabinets.

He was very complimentary of Sarah, crediting her with keeping the girls grounded, and very proud of his daughters.

[Mermaid1962]

I have always been impressed with Prince Andrew as a working Royal. He seems to be an honest character. When he was asked about his experience with trade and investment he said quite honestly that six months ago he knew nothing about it. I also like the way that he publicly stands up for his ex-wife and his children. I think that he's under-rated.

[pinkie40]

It is a pleasure to see how Prince Andrew has matured.

[selrahc4]

This was very similar to the tours and interviews he gave to Good Morining America a few years ago. I remember he talked then too about his daughters and about being in the military and about playing in the corridors. Link to Article Another Article

[christinacg]

Good interview. I've always liked Andrew because of his sense of humor and honesty. I think Meredith was a good match for him as an interviewer because of that as opposed to someone more serious like Barbara Walters.

[sgl]

I enjoyed this interview, though I do think that Meredith Vieira's behavior was kind of unprofessional. However, I don't like the overly-serious tones of some other journalists. Meredith just needed to tone it down a bit. Prince Andrew was likeable in the interview.

[iowabelle]

Originally Posted by christinacg

Good interview. I've always liked Andrew because of his sense of humor and honesty. I think Meredith was a good match for him as an interviewer because of that as opposed to someone more serious like Barbara Walters.

Barbara Walters, serious??

"Now, tell me, Your Highness, if you could be a tree, what kind of tree would you want to be?" Cut to Andrew sobbing into his handkerchief.

[debzone]

Originally Posted by christinacg

Good interview. I've always liked Andrew because of his sense of humor and honesty. I think Meredith was a good match for him as an interviewer because of that as opposed to someone more serious like Barbara Walters.

Or Matt Lauer and his clipboard..

I actually got the feeling that Meredith might have been "briefed" on some of the topics by Sarah? Maybe it was just me. Overall it was a pretty good interview. As usual though--NBC overpromoted it and then didn't really give alot of the actual piece. At 9am they said more of the interview coming up--only to play the first part over again.

[rmay286]

I thought the interview was good, but I wondered if there were pieces missing too? Because in the article accompanying the interview, Prince Andrew was described as mentioning his visits to the US with Sarah...but I didn't hear this on the interview--unless I missed something?

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by iowabelle

Barbara Walters, serious??

"Now, tell me, Your Highness, if you could be a tree, what kind of tree would you want to be?" Cut to Andrew sobbing into his handkerchief.

Oh that's good!!
I rather liked the way he just raised his eyebrows and gave her a "look" when she asked about the fantasies as if to say "Excuse me?" Not a royal snub by any stretch of the matter, just a little jab to remind her who she was talking to.

[Royal Fan]

I Think he was rather Amused ...if I May say so he seems far more likeable than I Gave him credit for

[debzone]

Originally Posted by rmay286

I thought the interview was good, but I wondered if there were pieces missing too? Because in the article accompanying the interview, Prince Andrew was described as mentioning his visits to the US with Sarah...but I didn't hear this on the interview--unless I missed something?

It was shown. It was during the sit down segment. Prince Andrew said something like it was nice to be known only as the ex husband or not even recognized at all.

Editing: I still had the interview on my DVR and the part about the visits was in shown seperate during an talk back between Meredith and Matt. It was not shown during the main segment.

[RubyPrincess168]

What?! How did I miss this?!:w00t2:

[ysbel]

Meredith Viera is not a good interviewer! At the start she wasn't even asking complete questions, just throwing at words and phrases at Andrew to react to. How lazy!

[Bella]

He's more adorable and charming than ever!!! M. Viera is totally annoying. I wish they'd have gotten someone else but P. Andrew came across fab.

[Royal Fan]

Indeed hes a Grand old Duke of York

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by ysbel

Meredith Viera is not a good interviewer! At the start she wasn't even asking complete questions, just throwing at words and phrases at Andrew to react to. How lazy!

I think she was used to being on "The View" where they just talk.
No, she wasn't very good. Maybe she was jittery?