A friend of Prince Andrew’s has taken a swipe at BBC Newsnight, following the release of the Netflix film Scoop which dramatises the events surrounding the Prince’s interview with the news show.
In the film the Duke of York is played by Rufus Sewell, while Gillian Anderson portrays journalist Emily Maitlis, who famously grilled Andrew on his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, his apparent inability to sweat and his visit to Pizza Express in Woking.
According to the Daily Beast Andrew fares better than might be expected in Scoop, with the Duke being depicted as a “vain buffoon, rather than villainous alleged abuser”.
A friend of Andrew’s defended him to the publication: “I think the show, to the satisfaction of everyone who actually knows the guy, made clear that Andrew was an extremely good convener of people. He did actually play a valuable role for the royals with Pitch@Palace and his other business-focused advocacy work.
“When he was at a business meet-and-greet in a conference room in Hong Kong, there was real energy when he entered the room. Those things are otherwise as dull as ditch water. He flew the flag for British business. He knows he screwed up monumentally over Epstein—but nobody is now doing what he did then. He still has a lot to offer.”
They added: “The irony of course is that Newsnight got gutted anyway [the nightly show was cut to 30 minutes, and more than half of its 60 staff were fired], and Andrew is very much back in the fold.”
Another friend revealed: “Obviously Andrew regrets doing the interview, and if he had his time again he wouldn’t do it. That said, he feels Scoop is much more even-handed than he expected. It’s fair to say he was delighted by Rufus Sewell’s portrayal of him.”
Following the interview in November 2019 Andrew was forced to step down as a working royal and was stripped of his military titles and patronages.
However he is still invited to certain events as a private family member, such as Christmas and Easter, and remains living at Royal Lodge having signed a 75-year lease.
A friend of King Charles and Queen Camilla claimed they are “vanishingly unlikely” to have watched Scoop and that His Majesty considers the Andrew issue “settled”.
They clarified that while the Duke will never be welcomed back in an official capacity, he remains a member of the family and will be treated as such.
Amazon Prime is set to be following hot on the heels of Netflix with their own three-part adaption A Very Royal Scandal, telling the story of the interview from the perspective of Emily Maitlis. She will be played this time by Ruth Wilson, while Michael Sheen will take on the role of Prince Andrew.
