Royals Behaving Badly: 'Scoop' vs 'A Very Royal Scandal'

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, second son of Queen Elizabeth II, gave a damning interview to the BBC’s Emily Maitlis about his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In the spring of 2024, Netflix gave us Scoop, a feature-length movie about the interview; now, not six months later, comes A Very Royal Scandal, Amazon Studio's three-part dramatization, the third entry in an anthology that includes A Very English Scandal (Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw) and A Very British Scandal (Paul Bettany and Claire Foy).

Journalist Emily Maitlis: "For most people, Prince Andrew and I are the story, but not Epstein’s victims.”

There's one glaring difference between this and previous A Very ... Scandal entries, which were set 40 and 50 years ago, respectively. Epstein’s crimes are recent, well-protected, and egregious. How many of his victims will find justice as evidence is hidden and the perpetrators shelter behind privilege and wealth? Other than continuing to keep their fight in the public consciousness, what did Prime Video cover in three one-hour episodes that Netflix, with its 100-minute length, couldn’t/didn’t? Let’s look at both productions and what they offer.