Brutal new humiliation for Prince Andrew

The project, titled ‘Scoop’, will look at how the network managed to gain such rare access to the royal for the infamous 2019 ‘Newsnight’ interview in which the prince talked about his friendship with Epstein, making headlines around the world.

Scoop will be based on the book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews by former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister.

The behind-the-scenes negotiations in securing the interview and the subsequent filming of it will make “very thrilling drama”, its writer Peter Moffat told film site Deadline.

“How was it that he decided it was a good idea to do a great big long interview with Emily Maitlis on the BBC?” added Moffat, who worked on BBC drama Criminal Justice and its US remake The Night Of, plus Silk, Your Honor, Undercover and 61st Street.

According to Deadline, Hugh Grant is “one of the unconfirmed names in the frame” to portray Prince Andrew. But Grant denied the reports. “I’ve heard nowt,” the actor told The Independent.

After years of being dogged by headlines about his close ties with the convicted paedophile, in November 2019, the royal agreed to sit down with BBC presenter Emily Maitlis to answer questions about their relationship and deny accusations that he had sex with then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, who now resides in Perth, Australia.

There were plenty of baffling moments during the 49-minute special, but a standout was the Duke of York claiming that he had “no recollection of ever meeting” Ms Giuffre, explaining that on the night in question he had taken daughter Beatrice to a party at a Surrey outpost of restaurant chain Pizza Express. He also said that Ms Giuffre’s claims that he had sweated profusely during their alleged time together were incorrect because he has “a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat … it was almost impossible for me to sweat”.

The moment has since been widely ridiculed.

During the trainwreck interview, the Duke of York also insisted he wasn’t a “party prince” and was “not one to hug” women as he repeatedly denied claims he had slept with one of Epstein’s teenage sex slaves.

In photos taken in Saint-Tropez in July 2007, Prince Andrew is seen with his arms around a number of females, including one who is reciprocating by playfully licking her arm close to his beaming face.

Prince Andrew was also condemned by many for failing to show any remorse over his friendship with Epstein or sympathy for the late pedophile’s many victims.

Rather than clear his name, the interview backfired so spectacularly that just three days later – and amid global outrage – Andrew announced he was “stepping back” from royal duties.

Prince Andrew has not been charged with any crime and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

In the interview, the prince also discussed his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who has since has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for helping Epstein procure young girls for sex.

She apologised in a Manhattan court for her crimes this week, telling her victims – many of whom were present – that she hoped her jail time brought them “closure”.

“I acknowledge with that I have been a victim of helping Jeffrey Epstein commit these crimes,” she told the judge, claiming meeting the predator was “the biggest regret” of her life.

One victim said outside court that “sorry doesn’t cut it”.

Originally published as Prince Andrew’s disastrous BBC Newsnight interview to be turned into a movie