On Sept. 16, Prime Video partnered with Tribeca Membership to deliver a first look at the new Prime Video three-part series, A Very Royal Scandal. The event was at the Tribeca Grill Loft, where event guests viewed the show’s first episode and participated in a talkback with Emily Maitlis, an executive producer, and Ruth Wilson, who played Emily Maitlis in the series.
A Very Royal Scandal depicts Prince Andrew’s 2019 interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, as well as the moments leading up to the interview and the aftermath. The BBC Newsnight interview surrounded Prince Andrew’s personal relationship with Jeffery Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse made by Virginia Giuffre. Maitlis conducted the interview and believes the series brings a new perspective to the famous event.
“[The interview] became this moment in time that we didn’t revisit,” Maitlis said during the talkback. “It was only when we emerged [from Coronavirus lockdown] that there was the perspective to look back and say ‘What did [the interview] mean?’”
Maitlis explained she doesn’t know if the interview caused any significant changes in British society, and the series faces this fact head-on.
Ruth Wilson and Emily Maitlis attend “A Very Royal Scandal” Tribeca Screening at Tribeca Film Center on September 16, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Valerie Terranova/Getty Images for Prime Video)
“We never really got to the truth,” Julian Jarrold, the director of the series, said in an exclusive interview with the Knockturnal. “And that’s really one of the fascinations with the story, is trying to understand the truth.”
The series invites viewers to discover the truth — or at least what they believe to be the truth — by presenting multiple perspectives on the allegations made against Prince Andrew. In showing these perspectives, the show also centers on what they believe truly matters in this narrative: the victims of Jeffery Epstein.
“[The show is] a big analysis of the U.K. and the island mentality we have, and the strange ecosystem between press, public and the Royal Family,” Wilson said in an exclusive interview with the Knockturnal. “As soon as the journalists became the story, [the public] forgot about the real victims.”
A Very Royal Scandal is available for streaming on Prime Video.