CBS News picked up Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s tearful interview yesterday after it aired in the UK on Monday evening:

Would Panorama have done this interview without Andrew having gone public last month? It’s tough to say one way or the other; the royal family is always news, but Giuffre’s story is the same as it has been for the last few years. Whether one believes Giuffre’s story or not, this interview didn’t cover any new ground — except to answer Andrew’s bizarre, rambling denials. He opened the door to this new focus on Giuffre’s story, and the British media is busy waltzing across the threshold. Small wonder Queen Elizabeth II essentially fired Andrew from the family business, although apparently many years too late.

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing new in the Panorama story. The show got its hands on e-mails from 2015 between Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein’s main procurer and confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, in which Giuffre was the main subject. Andrew was concerned enough about rumors that Giuffre was talking that he wanted a briefing from Maxwell — and got one that doesn’t quite match up with his denials:

Panorama said they had unearthed an email from Prince Andrew to Maxwell in January 2015 in which he writes, “Let me know when you can talk. Got some specific questions about Virginia Roberts.” She replies to say that she will call.

A few days later she sent a dossier of alleged inconsistencies in Giuffre’s story but, the BBC reports, she did not mention that Prince Andrew had not been at her house in London that night, nor did she raise doubts about the authenticity of the photograph.

Not only does this contradict parts of Andrew’s specific denials, it also undercuts one of his major overall defenses about his relationship with Epstein. He claimed to have spent four days in Epstein’s mansion in 2010 breaking off their relationship after Epstein’s conviction for sex crimes. Yet five years later he’s tight enough to ask for Maxwell’s personal help in fending off Giuffre’s accusations? And she responds with no recriminations, no questions asked? One does not need to be Sherlock Holmes to get the elementary sense that Andrew’s lying through his teeth.

Giuffre wants US investigators to interrogate Andrew, and Buckingham Palace at least says they’d be willing to cooperate … if forced to do so:

Buckingham Palace issued a new statement on Tuesday morning, reiterating both Andrew’s flat denial of any wrongdoing, and his willingness to speak with U.S. investigators, “if required.”

“It is emphatically denied that The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation,” the palace said.

“The Duke deeply sympathises with those affected who want some form of closure. It is his hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives. The Duke is willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required. The Duke has already stated that he did not see, witness or suspect any behavior of the sort that subsequently led to Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest and conviction. He deplores the exploitation of any human being and would not condone, participate in, or encourage any such behavior.”

The Duke’s sympathies in his BBC interview were entirely focused on himself, and one suspects that the palace has its own interests much more firmly in mind too. Perhaps the DoJ should call the royal family’s bluff and send an investigator over for a deposition, and see how far he gets.