Have you guys watched Scoop yet? It’s the Netflix movie based on Sam McAlister’s book of the same name, all about how BBC’s Newsnight scored their big Prince Andrew interview in 2019. Rufus Sewell plays Prince Andrew, Gillian Anderson plays Emily Maitlis and Billie Piper plays Sam McAlister. It also featured some fine supporting performances by Keeley Hawes and Romola Garai (I didn’t expect to see them and they are both so underrated). I thought Sewell was good as Andrew, especially in the interview scenes. You could tell that Sewell had really studied the interview and he really did mimic Andrew’s mannerisms and behaviors, although Sewell probably could have done a bit more to get Andrew’s voice. Gillian didn’t really bother to mimic Emily Maitlis’s voice either – it’s like Gillian was still doing Margaret Thatcher at various points in the movie.
So, obviously, Scoop has brought up the fact that the real Prince Andrew is still lingering around the royal family. Scoop tried to convince everyone in the postscript that Andrew had “given up his titles,” but that’s not true. He’s still His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, Duke of York, etc. Nothing has been removed or put into abeyance, he just doesn’t “use” the HRH anymore. But for all intents and purposes, Andrew is still very much an accepted part of the family. He’s been to more family events in the past year than Prince William, from Easter Sunday to King Constantine’s memorial service to the coronation to Christmas at Sandringham. Now the royal expert fusspots are crying because King Charles won’t simply put Andrew on an ice floe and set him out to sea:
Royal author Richard Fitzwilliams said the Netflix show was yet another very embarrassing situation for the Palace, while biographer and investigative journalist Tom Bower thinks it shows it is high time for Charles to act and remove the Duke from ‘public view’.
Mr Bower said: ‘To save the Royal Family from more horrendous damage, King Charles will finally need to order Prince Andrew to permanently stay out of public view. Senior officials also need to tell Andrew the truth. He is a serious liability and cannot be trusted or rescued. Unless King Charles firmly grasps this nettle it can only get worse’.
Mr Fitzwilliam said: ‘The film conveys the extraordinary sense of entitlement that Andrew had. He is told by his aide Amanda Thirsk to ‘just be himself’ and he is – that’s the most damning thing. It is very embarrassing for the Palace and simply another indication that Andrew is completely unfit for the Royal Family he was born into. The public’s view of him is already ghastly and couldn’t be worse so this will confirm people’s opinions. The film also adds a new dimension by portraying his childlike side – such as the scene featuring his teddy bears.’
‘The person we see in the film doesn’t seem to have any idea of reality. It shows how people in a privileged position can become completely out of touch.’
I was a bit astonished that they actually put Andrew’s teddy bears in there. There’s so much cognitive dissonance within the film too – you have these serious BBC reporters treating the Windsors as practically untouchable and ungovernable, and then there’s Andrew, fussing over his stupid teddy bears and making idiotic decisions constantly. It also highlighted the incompetence around the Windsors too, from Amanda Thirsk (who fell on her sword after the interview aired, and she was cut a big severance check) to the nameless representative of QEII, who actually recorded the interview on his phone… and still cleared the BBC to air the whole thing. So, I agree that Andrew should be put on an ice floe and set out to sea, but here’s the thing: Charles keeps inviting Andrew to events. Charles has repeatedly telegraphed that he’s totally fine with Andrew.
Meanwhile, the Times also had a story about how Andrew is “feeling bullish” despite Scoop. He was seen recently out at Harry’s Bar in Mayfair, having lunch with Johan Eliasch, a Swede who is chairman of Head (a sporting goods manufacturer). They’ve been friends since the 1990s and there’s some speculation that they might be doing some business together. The rest of this Times piece is basically like “here are all the reasons why Andrew could never come back.” They’re missing the point – Andrew never left.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.