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Members of the Royal Family have expressed unease concerning Prince Andrew after a new drama’s release, according to a royal expert.
Amazon Prime’s A Very Royal Scandal paints Andrew in a less-than-flattering of Andrew during the notorious Newsnight debacle.
Rebecca English, the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor, commented that Andrew “comes across as the most obnoxious individual you would ever have the misfortune to meet”.
On the Palace Confidential podcast, her colleague Jo Elvin highlighted: “A lot of us have this assumption that Andrew is impervious to public perception but it must affect him in some ways.”
Royal commentator Charlotte Griffiths added insight into Andrew’s response to his “car crash” interview. She suggested he was severely depressed at the time of the interview, retreating to bed, yet later appeared to regain his bounce.
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Charlotte continued: “Recently I’ve been hearing that he’s going through quite a low stage, and actually some of the family get quite worried about him.
“It’s kind of a terrifying thing to be completely and utterly hauled over the calls in front of the whole nation.”
A Very Royal Scandal largely narrates the interview saga from Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis’s viewpoint, but Rebecca notes that “there’s quite a lot from the heart of Buckingham Palace and also Royal Lodge”.
The recently-aired drama shows a dispirited Prince Andrew after his controversial interview. But in the second episode he is seen commending the effort to interviewer Emily Maitlis. Michael Sheen, embodying the embattled royal, says: “I am most grateful for the opportunity. Obviously it was a risk but I felt it [was good]. Thank you, Emily.”
(Image: (Image: Christopher Raphael/Blueprint/Sony Pictures Television))
It further delves into the fallout faced by Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk over orchestrating the infamous interview, culminating in her dismissal.
Portrayed by Joanna Scanlan, the dramatisation sees Thirsk being chastised by the Queen’s private secretary who informs her of the dire consequences of her actions: “I am afraid you’re going to need to step back. We’ll have you sign an NDA and there will be the usual severance package, but as of Monday you no longer work for the Duke of York.”
Despite the on-screen portrayal, reports from the BBC suggest that the real-life Amanda Thirsk continues to stand by Prince Andrew.
