Why Princess Beatrice Is ‘Dreading’ Amazon’s ‘A Very Royal Scandal’ More Than Netflix’s ‘Scoop’
Sure, Scoop “upset” Princess Beatrice. But not as much as Amazon’s own depiction of Prince Andrew’s 2019 Newsnight interview is about to. The 35-year-old British royal is reportedly “dreading” A Very Royal Scandal’s release as she’s further “dragged” into the drama surrounding her father’s legendary interview.
Beatrice expects to be featured more prominently in ‘A Very Royal Scandal’ than ‘Scoop’
Although, like Scoop, A Very Royal Scandal focuses on her father’s 2019 Newsnight interview about Jeffrey Epstein that saw him lose patronages as well as working royal and HRH [His Royal Highness] status, Beatrice is more concerned about Amazon’s depiction as opposed to Netflix’s.
The reason, per OK! Magazine, is because Beatrice thinks she’ll feature more prominently compared to Scoop, in which actor Charity Wakefield played her in one brief scene.
The three-part Amazon series centers around Emily Maitlis’s “professional and personal journey as a Newsnight journalist leading up to her acclaimed interview with Prince Andrew,” per the official description. She is played by The Affair‘s Ruth Wilson. Meanwhile, the real Maitlis is executive producing A Very Royal Scandal.
“Bea is dreading the release of Emily’s version of events because she thinks she will feature more heavily in it,” a source said. “She believes it will stir everything up for no reason, and nobody will let her live it down. To say she is upset is an understatement—she’s devastated.”
As for Scoop, the film follows the perspective of Sam McAlister (Billie Piper), the producer who secured the interview.
Beatrice ‘feels unfairly targeted’ by ‘A Very Royal Scandal’ and ‘Scoop’
The insider continued, saying: “Bea feels unfairly targeted. She’s so upset by all of this. She adores her father but didn’t want to be dragged into this so publicly.”
The timing of Scoop and A Very Royal Scandal is not ideal for the British royal either. “Bea feels like this has set her back a few steps just as everything was going right for her within the Royal Family.”
“Bea was very much focused on her charitable work and was looking forward to contributing more. This is the last thing she needed.”
“Charles and William were starting to see her as a pivotal part of plugging the gap within the family. But she feels like that’s all been ruined now.”
Ahead of Scoop’s release, reports claimed Beatrice, as well as her sister, Princess Eugenie, 34, expected a request from their uncle, the king, to take on formal duties as he undergoes cancer treatment alongside Kate Middleton. However, the request presumably never came as the York sisters were left feeling “snubbed.”
‘A Very Royal Scandal’ doesn’t have an official release date
Ready to mark the calendar for A Very Royal Scandal’s release? Hold off because the Amazon TV series doesn’t have a premiere date at the time of writing (or a trailer).
Per the Daily Mail, A Very Royal Scandal is set for an October 2024 release. Meanwhile, there are said to be “crisis talks” underway at Amazon to set it apart from Scoop.
Although it’s still six months away if A Very Royal Scandal gets a fall release, there’s still plenty of time to revisit the 2019 interview that inspired it.
