Prince Andrew.Photo: STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty
The decisions that led toPrince Andrewsitting down for hisbombshell 2019 interview with the BBCabout his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein are being examined in a new documentary.
Apreviewof the new A&E documentarySecrets of Prince Andrewaired onGood Morning Americahours ahead of the premiere on Monday night. The documentary dives into Queen Elizabeth’s second son’s choice to sit down with BBC’s Emily Maitlis and discuss his links to Epstein for the first time, speaking out about his relationship with the disgraced millionaire and allegations that he had sex withVirginia Roberts(now Virginia Giuffre) when she was 17.
Filmmaker Sheldon Lazarus said in the clip, “Everybody in his inner circle told him not to do the interview. We’re still — you know, even myself now, still trying to work out why would you do that?”
He added, “This went viral, global literally seconds after it aired in the U.K.”
Prince Andrew’s friend and legal advisor appeared on camera for an interview as well as Emily Maitlis, the journalist who conducted the interview.
Maitlis said in the documentary, “Whenever the BBC and the royals meet, someone always gets fired. I didn’t think it would be him.”
According to a press release from A&E, the show’s contributors include “Samantha McAlister, the BBC Newsnight producer who spent over a year negotiating the interview with the Palace and securing the scoop of a lifetime, journalist and author Vicky Ward, palace insiders and friends and advisors who know Prince Andrew best.”
Prince Andrew has denied any wrongdoing.
Keeley Hawes will portray Amanda Thirsk, Prince Andrew’s private secretary at the time, while Billie Piper will play Sam McAlister, the producer who negotiated Andrew’s booking and wrote the memoirScoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, on which the upcoming film is based.
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Scoopwill give viewers “the inside track on the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade that led to the catastrophic fall from grace of the queen’s ‘favorite son,'” according to the film’slogline. That includes everything from “navigating Palace vetoes, to breaking through to Prince Andrew’s inner circle, the high-stakes negotiations and intensity of rehearsal — to the jaw-dropping interview itself.”
source: people.com
