'Scoop' Offers Intrigue on How Prince Andrew Agreed to His Disastrous Interview
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Fans of The Crown who are disappointed that the timeline of the show stopped in 2005 have a two-hour treat waiting in Netflix’s Scoop. Beginning with the same disclaimer that the film is based on real events with elements of fiction, its style is remarkably similar to Peter Morgan’s celebrated series. And, most significantly, Scoop also leans heavily into the idea that, when it comes to the royal family, there is endless capacity for intrigue.
Based on former Newsnight journalist Sam McAlister’s book Scoops, the film follows the behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to the BBC program securing its infamous 2019 interview with Prince Andrew. Sam (Billie Piper) is the central character whose working relationship with Prince Andrew’s Private Secretary Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes) is shown as pivotal to securing the eventual sit-down chat with Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson).
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The film was never going to offer any new revelations about Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) or his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. But, as will be the case forever more, there will never be a good time for the royal family for the world to be reminded of the Duke of York’s spectacular fall from grace. All the cringe-worthy, insulting and downright shocking ways he spent an hour talking himself out of a royal future are in there: Pizza Express in Woking, his inability to sweat, and the fact that he failed to apologize or express regret for his friendship with Epstein despite being given multiple chances.
Much of the second half of the film is taken up with the interview itself, recreated word for word somewhat laboriously but with impressive characterizations. But the first half offers more intrigue as it delves into the question many of us still struggle to understand—how and why did Prince Andrew ever agree to the interview in the first place?
Let’s remember first that Scoop is a partly-fictionalized take of one person’s version of events—and indeed there is another version coming soon on Amazon with Maitlis’s involvement. However, there can be no denying that McAlister was key to how events unfolded and that she came to feel something of a bond with the Prince’s right-hand woman Thirsk. “We both knew that if something went wrong, one of us was going to get it; that understanding created a connection and a poignancy between us, and unfortunately it was her [who got it],” McAlister told the Guardian newspaper recently, adding. “But I have nothing but good things to say about her. She was cool, calm, collected, confident.”
Much effort is taken in Scoop to emphasize the connection between the Prince and Thirsk and to set the tone that she had the utmost influence. The relationship is portrayed as plutonic but adoring on her part. Thirsk is set up as someone who genuinely believes Andrew is too loyal for his own good and that his likeable charm will win people over if he is only given the chance. As Thirsk and Princess Beatrice flank Andrew in a scene portraying a meeting with Newsnight staff, you cannot help but ponder how well-meaning adoration clouded critical judgement by those making decisions in real life.
The effort put into strategizing the content and style of the interview is also played out at length in Scoop. A pushy, confrontational approach favored by deputy editor Stewart Maclean (Richard Goulding) is discussed but is ultimately rejected by Maitlis. A scene in which McAlister tells Maitlis that “men like that hate it when they’re not heard” and a subsequent scene where Maitlis briefly loses her dog and an onlooker observes “you chase them, you’ll never catch them,” set up the idea that the interviewer consciously decided to give the Prince space.
In the end, as in real life, it was Andrew who took himself down with a total lack of self-awareness of how awful his explanations were. Scoop endorses the narrative that only the journalists in the room seemed aware of just how badly the interview had gone.
It is almost laughable now to think that the Prince’s initial statement following the interview said he would step back from royal duties only for the “foreseeble future.” Perhaps stepping down would have happened eventually anyway as heat grew over his links with Epstein. But it cannot be an understatement to say that the interview, at that time, changed everything.
The attention on the film is another PR nightmare for the royal family, although mitigated somewhat by the fact that there are no new revelations. But one person who is given some good publicity out of this film is the Prince’s temporary PR advisor Jason Stein (Alex Waldmann).
Scoop shows Stein throwing in the towel when he discovers that a meeting has taken place with Newsnight where no interview conditions were discussed. In a stance that would undoubtedly have served Prince Andrew and the monarchy far better, the character shakes his head before declaring, “I can’t do this. I’m out.”
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