| A Very Royal Scandal | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Historical drama |
| Based on | Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News byEmily Maitlis |
| Written by | Jeremy Brock |
| Directed by | Julian Jarrold |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Josh Hyams |
| Running time | 59–61 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | 19 September 2024 (2024-09-19) |
A Very Royal Scandal is a British three-parthistorical drama series fromAmazon MGM Studios withEmily Maitlis as executive producer and starringRuth Wilson as Maitlis andMichael Sheen asPrince Andrew, Duke of York. It is written byJeremy Brock and directed byJulian Jarrold.
A Very Royal Scandal was released on 19 September 2024 on the streaming serviceAmazon Prime Video.[1]
It is a dramatic retelling ofEmily Maitlis' professional and personal journey leading up to the2019 BBC television interview ofPrince Andrew, Duke of York by Maitlis forBBC Two news and current affairs programmeNewsnight regarding the Prince's ties to human traffickerJeffrey Epstein.[2][3]
In 2008, Jeffrey Epstein accepts a plea to state criminal charges in Florida in exchange forfederal immunity. Later, in December 2010, Andrew's photo is taken inNew York Central Park as he meets Epstein. The two had been meeting because Andrew was seekingfinancial advice from Epstein.
In spite of the Florida plea bargain with federal authorities, Epstein is re-arrested bySDNY federal authorities onrevived federal charges in 2019. After Epstein's death in August 2019, Andrew agrees to a BBC interview "Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal" in November 2019.
The March 2001 photo of the 17-year-old-at-the-timeVirginia Giuffre and 41-year-old-at-the-time Prince Andrew at a house onKinnerton Street has been published in the lead-up to the interview.[4]
In May 2015, Virginia Giuffre contacts the LondonMetropolitan Police with allegations against Andrew. The Met dismissed the case in 2016 because the activities were largely outside the United Kingdom. Maitlis considers this a "coverup."
In a practice session with her colleagues before the interview, a colleague playing thedevil's advocate as Andrew retorts that even if he had sex with Virginia Giuffre in 2001 when she was 17, theage of consent in the United Kingdom was 16.
A few days before Andrew'sNewsnight interview, BBCPanorama interviewed Virginia Giuffre.[5] Andrew denies having danced with Giuffre at the nightclubTramp in 2001.
Andrew admits to having invitedGhislaine Maxwell toWindsor Castle andSandringham House in 2000. Andrew claims that Epstein was Maxwell's plus one.
Andrew says that he was a patron ofNSPCC and didn't see any child sexual abuse. He owns up to his long friendship with Maxwell. He was hosted at Maxwell's home at the affluentBelgravia neighbourhood of London.
After the state of New York passes theChild Victims Act of 2019,[6]Virginia Giuffre files acivil suit against Andrew claiming that she feared death after her 2001 sexual encounter with the Prince.
Emily Maitlis leaves the BBC at the end of 2021.
The civil case against the Prince is decided to be settled before thePlatinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II; he is excluded from the Jubilee.
The series is produced forAmazon MGM Studios byBlueprint Pictures.Jeremy Brock is the screenwriter andJulian Jarrold the director.Emily Maitlis is executive producer on the series alongside Karen Thrussell,Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Diarmuid McKeown, Brock and Jarrold.[7]
The series is aspiritual successor toA Very English Scandal (2018), about theThorpe affair, andA Very British Scandal (2021), about theArgyll divorce, both of which were also produced by Blueprint.[8]
In November 2023, Ruth Wilson and Michael Sheen were set in the roles as Emily Maitlis and Andrew with Alex Jennings, Joanna Scanlan and Éanna Hardwicke also in the cast.[9] The cast also includes Clare Calbraith as Sam McAlister and Lydia Leonard as Esme Wren from Newsnight, Honor Swinton Byrne and Sofia Oxenham as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Claire Rushbrook as Sarah Ferguson.[10]
Amazon Studios started production on the series in the UK in November 2023.[11][12]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 85% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10.[13]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned a score of 66 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[14]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TV Choice Awards | 10 February 2025 | Best New Drama | A Very Royal Scandal | Nominated | [15][16][17] |
| Best Drama Performance | Michael Sheen | Nominated | |||
| National Television Awards | 10 September 2025 | Best New Drama | A Very Royal Scandal | Nominated | [18] |
| Best Drama Performance | Ruth Wilson | Nominated | |||
| Best Drama Performance | Michael Sheen | Nominated |
