The 'A Very Royal Scandal' Trailer Sees Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson Face Off
Ruth Wilson in "A Very Royal Scandal"
(Photo: Prime Video)
BBC Newsnight's 2019 interview with England's Prince Andrew is rightly remembered as one of modern media's greatest trainwrecks. An hour-long conversation in which the prince was grilled about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and questioned about his own relationship with a woman who had accused him of having underage sex with her; the entire event was a jaw-dropping study in oblivious, out-of-touch delusion. That it was deliciously scandalous in a car crash sort of way is obvious, if only in the ways that we, as a society, are still so relentlessly fascinated by the interview and the long tail of its fall-out.
Maybe it's our cultural obsession with England's Royal Family or the basic human desire to see an influential person held to account. Still, whatever the reason, with the premiere of A Very Royal Scandal, we're getting our second take on the Prince Andrew interview in the space of a year. (Yes, really! And it's only been five years since it happened!)
The third installment in Prime Video's loose "Scandal" anthology series, previous installments of which have focused on Ian and Margaret Campell's contentious divorce and Jeremy Thorpe's trial for conspiracy, A Very Royal Scandal stars Michael Sheen (Good Omens) as Andrew and Ruth Wilson (The Woman in the Wall) as journalist Emily Maitlis. And the production counts Maitlis herself as one of its executive producers, meaning that its source material is certainly more immediate than most.
The series trailer certainly looks like a spot-on recreation, let's put it that way.
Here's the series' synopsis.
One night. One hour. One interview that sent shockwaves around the globe. Based on the real-life 2019 interview between Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew over the scandalous accusations he faced regarding his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre. A Very Royal Scandal follows the action of Maitlis and Prince Andrew in the lead-up to the interview, the ground-breaking event itself and the many questions left in its wake that would change their lives forever.
Alongside Sheen and Wilson, the series also stars Joanna Scanlan (The Larkins) as Andrew's private secretary Amanda Thirsk; Alex Jennings (The Undeclared War) as Sir Edward Young, Private Secretary to the Sovereign; Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) as Newsnight editor Stewart Maclean; and Claire Rushbrook (Magpie Murders) as Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
A Very Royal Scandal is written by Jeremy Brock and directed by Julian Jarrold. Both are executive producers alongside Karen Thrussell, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Diarmuid McKeown, and Maitlis herself. The series was produced by Blueprint Television for Amazon MGM Studios, and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Television.
All three episodes of A Very Royal Scandal premiere on Prime Video on Thursday, September 19, 2024.
