Dear Gossips,
Ruth Wilson was in New York yesterday promoting the new Amazon series, A Very Royal Scandal. This show is from the same producers as A Very English Scandal and A Very British Scandal, two acclaimed series about political and social figures in England, starring Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw and Claire Foy and Paul Bettany respectively, that would go on to be nominated and win several awards. And now that level of prestige is coming for Prince Andrew.
A Very Royal Scandal is exactly what you think it’s about: journalist Emily Maitlis’s interview with Prince Andrew that was so disastrous for him that it precipitated his exit from royal life. Ruth plays Emily, Michael Sheen plays Andrew, and if you’re wondering what the difference is between A Very Royal Scandal and Scoop, the Netflix film released earlier this year starring Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell, Scoop was from the perspective of Sam McAllister, the producer who chased the Prince Andrew interview. A Very Royal Scandal is from Emily Maitlis’s perspective, Emily is an executive producer on the series, and she’s been a consistent presence on the press tour. She and Ruth, both, were in New York for the screening and the Q&A last night.
And so, once again, Prince Andrew’s, um, shortcomings are making headlines. These are highly respected actors, with stage and screen experience, signing on to tell the story of his very public and self-inflicted humiliation. There is no version of the story, as we all know, where he comes across as sympathetic or even pitiful. Still, even if there is someone out there who might pity him, as a member of the British royal family, known for decades for his arrogance and ignorance, pity in itself would be an embarrassment to him. Pity is what he’s supposed to throw at others, pity is not supposed to be what he’s begging of us.
Imagine being Prince Andrew and pity now being the best you might hope for?
As for those who might be asking… do we really need another project about Prince Andrew’s mess? Well, why not? Too often, and throughout history, men like Prince Andrew get away with their f-cksh-t. And this time, in his case, an intrepid female journalist and her team did their jobs, asked the fair and tough questions, and objectively presented their work to the audience so that they could decide if this dumbass was worth supporting. I’ll watch that story over and over again.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
