Sensational dramas about the Duke of York are rather like London buses: you wait five years for one, and then two come along at once. Amazon Prime’s three-part series, A Very Royal Scandal, which focuses on the notorious Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, is released tomorrow. The show follows the perspective of both the journalist Emily Maitlis (Ruth Wilson) and, more surprisingly, Andrew himself, in another of the ever-chameleonic Michael Sheen’s superb performances. A Very Royal Scandal follows Netflix’s depiction of the interview, Scoop, which was released earlier this year.
A Very Royal Scandal takes a more considered approach, daring to hint that Andrew was actively bad
Whether the royals will be watching either of the dramatisations seems questionable. Each one offers its own pleasures and intrigue, as well as several moments where the average viewer will be driven to sigh, shout or otherwise exclaim at the screen, thanks to the sheer awfulness of the Duke’s behaviour.
Scoop portrayed him, in Rufus Sewell’s latex-encased performance, as a buffoon out of his depth and blind to the consequences of his folly until it was too late. A Very Royal Scandal takes a more considered approach, daring to hint that Andrew was actively bad, rather than just a privileged imbecile who was easily led astray by those around him. It’s notable, incidentally, that the BBC – who produced the other two dramas in the ‘Scandal’ series – did not go anywhere near this particular hot potato.
Prince Andrew’s expulsion from public life is not something that anyone apart from his immediate family is likely to be exercised about. It would be more surprising if anyone were to watch A Very Royal Scandal and worry that he has been somehow maligned. Certainly, the charge sheet against him, as presented on screen, is a long and unimpressive one. It features him barking ‘Fuck off!’ at any underlings unfortunate enough to cross his path in their everyday work, and a queasy encounter with Jeffrey Epstein in which the Duke has to ask for money to pay off his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson’s debts. In return, in the show, Epstein silkily demands that Andrew remain his ‘guest’ at his New York residence for several days, during which time the disgraced financier exploited his royal connection to the hilt.
The presentation of the rest of the royals is hardly complimentary either. The only members of ‘the Firm’ to appear on screen are Fergie – portrayed as an emotional and thin-skinned lush who is nevertheless kind-hearted underneath her absurdity – and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, depicted as torn between their love for their father and their horror at the compromising situation that he has embroiled them all in.
Nonetheless, these are more sympathetic interpretations than the main royal establishment receives, portrayed on screen by the ever-excellent Alex Jennings as Sir George Young, the Queen’s private secretary. It is Sir George who gets most of the best and most memorable lines – at one point saying ‘we find ourselves here, in a clusterfuck worthy of the Kardashians’. It also shows him exhibiting an impressive degree of cold ruthlessness, summarily firing Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk for daring to agree to the humiliating interview in the first place.
Arguments between King Charles and Andrew are shown, albeit only from the latter’s perspective, with the-then Prince of Wales telling his younger brother not to do the interview. He calls him a ‘mummy’s boy’ and says his actions will ‘damage the Firm’s reputation’ – accurate advice that will only send the Duke into paroxysms of rage. The film suggests that the only reason why Newsnight were allowed to film at all was because the late Queen was on her younger son’s side – ‘whatever Andrew wants’ – and the consequences of this rare lapse in judgement proved to be epochal to this day.
Feuds run deep within the royal family, and Prince Andrew’s banishment to reputational Siberia is neatly summarised in the last lines of the programme, delivered with relish by Jennings. When Andrew, facing oblivion, cries ‘What do I do? Tell me!’, the courtier suavely but viciously replies: ‘You live with the consequences of your actions, sir.’ Only the most generous, or blinkered, would not suggest that the wider royal family lives with the embarrassment every day. A Very Royal Scandal is a piquant reminder of this, and one that will resonate with its millions of viewers.
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