Prince Andrew is being depicted by actor Michael Sheen in a new drama “insisting on being asked about his Princess Beatrice alibi” during his Newsnight interview.
A Very Royal Scandal, due to drop on Amazon Prime next month, tells the story of the Duke of York’s 2019 interview with Emily Maitlis from her perspective, as she is serving as the executive producer.
Unlike Scoop, the 2024 Netflix film about the Newsnight interview, this version will be told from Maitlis’s perspective across three separate episodes.
A teaser shown at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Thursday showed the duke, played by Sheen, urging Maitlis to ask him about his alibies, which he claimed proved he did not have sex with then-17-year-old Virginia Giuffre.
When the cameras stop filming, his private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, could be seen running over to him.
She said: “Sir, the alibis, you didn’t mention those. I do think it would be advisable to have those included.”
The duke then told Maitlis, played by Ruth Wilson: “You didn’t ask me about my alibis as discussed; the sweating and my visit to Pizza Express.”
Thirsk, played by Joanna Scanlan, added: “I must insist that we include these details, they are material to his Royal Highness’s defence. We were expecting to be asked about them.”
Michael Sheen will play Prince Andrew in A Very Royal Scandal
Amazon Prime
Maitlis responded that they “will absolutely do it now” before the interview resumed.
The duke claimed he could not have been with Giuffre on that particular night in March 2001, because he had taken his daughter, Princess Beatrice, to a birthday party at Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey.
He also rejected her claim that he sweated profusely when they danced at a nightclub, insisting he was unable to sweat at the time as a result of trauma caused by serving in the Falklands War.
Maitlis previously revealed that the BBC considered rejecting the request to restart the interview but that the duke was “convinced” it would show him in a positive light.
In the event, the bizarre alibi prompted ridicule.
The duke also failed to express any regret over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender, or empathy for his victims.
The fallout brought an abrupt end to his royal career.
Prince Andrew insists he has no recollection of meeting Giuffre and has always denied her claims.
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Maitlis, who has since left the BBC, is an executive producer on the Prime Video series.
She is expected to offer a different take on the interview to that portrayed in Scoop, which was released in April and based on a book written by Sam McAlister.
McAlister, a former BBC producer, helped negotiate the November 2019 interview.
