King Charles III just can’t seem to catch a break in his time on the throne so far. Just as #KateGate begins to settle down (she’s fine, y’all), the monarch is going to have to deal with the renewed interest in Prince Andrew’s association with the late sex offender, Jeffery Epstein. Charles will have Netflix to thank for another round of headlines because they are bringing the movie, Scoop, to TV screens on April 5.
The trailer, for the film about his uncomfortable 2019 BBC interview, dropped on Monday and it looks absolutely riveting. The drama begins right at the start of the clip as a female voice is heard saying, “An hour of television can change everything.” The compelling drama follows Sam McAlister, played by Billie Piper, who goes to great lengths to book the Duke of York for a sit-down interview and get his side of the story about his Epstein friendship.
“My job… is booking the people we can’t just call up,” she says in the clip.
Rufus Sewell tackles the role of Prince Andrew and Gillian Anderson steps into the shoes of BBC Newsnight anchor Emily Maitlis. The trailer takes viewers on a journey from negotiating the terms of the interview to the fallout after the broadcast. “That all went very well,” Sewell as Prince Andrew states. No, sir, it did not.
In the interview, which was described as a “car crash” by critics, Prince Andrew tried to defend himself from the incriminating snapshot of him with the then-underage Virginia Giuffre. “I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken. It’s a photograph of a photograph of a photograph,” he said in the interview. “Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored…Public displays of affection are not something, that, that I do. So, that’s the best explanation I can give you.”
Prince Andrew was suspended from his public duties “for the foreseeable future” (forever) after that BBC interview. He eventually was stripped of his royal patronages and military titles in January 2022, and settled a reported $16 million sex abuse case with Giuffre that was paid out by Queen Elizabeth II and his older brother. He has continually denied any wrongdoing in the Epstein case.
This latest turn of events probably doesn’t help King Charles’ current health situation, but the embattled monarch is going to have to weather one more storm in the royal family’s latest saga.
Before you go, click here to find out which tell-all books expose major royal family secrets.
