The True Story Behind ‘Scoop’ and Prince Andrew’s Infamous BBC Interview

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Netflix’s new movie Scoop is a fascinating look at how BBC’s Newsnight program landed one of the most defining royal interviews of the 21^st century: Prince Andrew discussing his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. The movie, written by Peter Moffat and directed by Philip Martin, chronicles the lead-up to the interview and the actual conversation between Queen Elizabeth II’s son and journalist Emily Maitlis but doesn’t dwell on the fallout, which is still ongoing.

The film is “inspired by real events” and based on Sam McAlister’s book, Scoops, which details her career as a talent booker. You can read an excerpt about how she secured the Prince Andrew interview here.

“Sam is a force of nature,” Scoop executive producer Hilary Salmon says. “She’s larger than life—and neither of those two descriptions are clichés in Sam’s case. She’s not the sort of person that you would expect to find in a BBC office, let alone on BBC Newsnight, this serious engine of news. And she’s also that kind of fish out of water figure, who nevertheless is the truth teller—she was the one who said, ‘We need this interview, it’s going to be good. It’s going to be big. It might feel like celebrity journalism to you but actually, it’s important and it will be massive.’ And she was right.”

The real interview

Emily Maitlis sat down with Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace for a nearly hour-long conversation; it aired on November 16, 2019. You can watch it below, or read a full transcript here:

Maitlis begins the interview by asking Prince Andrew why he’s finally decided to talk about Epstein. He replies, “Because there is no good time to talk about Mr. Epstein and all things associated, and we’ve been talking to Newsnight for about six months about doing something around the work that I was doing, and unfortunately, we’ve just not been able to fit it into either your schedule or my schedule until now. And actually it’s a very good opportunity, and I’m delighted to be able to see you today.”

Over the course of the next 50 minutes, like Scoop depicts, Andrew defends his friendship with Epstein, saying, “it would be a considerable stretch to say that he was a very, very close friend. But he had the most extraordinary ability to bring extraordinary people together.” During the interview, Andrew also denies meeting Virginia Giuffre (née Roberts), and offers excuses for a photograph that apparently shows the two of them.

How BBC Newsnight got the interview

As Scoop illustrates, very few BBC staffers knew about the interview before it happened. “We’d agreed to keep the negotiations in a very small circle of trust,” McAlister writes in her book. “It was crucial that other programmes or outlets didn’t know how close we were, and we knew that any foolish indiscretion or leak would ruin our chances.”

Those included in that circle of trust were:

• Sam McAlister (played by Billie Piper): Newsnight talent booker

• Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson): Newsnight anchor/interviewer

• Esme Wren (Romola Garai): Newsnight editor

• Stewart Maclean (Richard Goulding): Newsnight deputy editor

• Verity Murphy (not in the movie): Newsnight deputy editor

The other two BBC employees who knew:

• Fran Unsworth (Lia Williams): BBC director of news

• Tony Hall (Andrew MacBean): BBC director-general

At the meeting with Prince Andrew before the interview took place, in attendance were McAlister, Maitlis, and Maclean from the Newsnight team, and Prince Andrew, his private secretary Amanda Thirsk, and his eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice.

The fallout from the interview is ongoing

Just a few days after the interview aired, Prince Andrew announced he was stepping down from public duties. “It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities that I am proud to support,” he wrote. “Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission.”

Andrew continued, “I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure. I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives. Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required.”

In 2022, Andrew’s military titles and patronages were revoked, following a civil suit filed in 2021 by Giuffre. “With The Queen’s approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.” In February 2022, Andrew and Giuffre settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Since, Prince Andrew has rarely appeared in public with the royal family—with the exceptions of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, King Charles’ coronation, and Easter and Christmas church services.

Watch Scoop on Netflix Now

See Rufus Sewell and Gillian Anderson reenact the famous interview between Andrew and Maitlis in Scoop. The movie is now streaming on Netflix and also stars Billie Piper as Sam McAlister.

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