Is Prince Andrew really as vulgar and entitled as he's portrayed by Michael Sheen in Amazon's new drama? Spoiler alert! You bet, one battle-worn courtier tells the Mail

A Very Royal Scandal shines an uncomfortable spotlight connected a clip the Royal Family would similar to forget.

From his inaugural ‘f*** off’ to a hapless flunkey, the latest TV retelling of Prince Andrew’s catastrophic Newsnight interrogation is simply a brutal representation of the disgraced Duke.

The November 2019 broadcast that helium hoped would wide his sanction torpedoed his royal career, saw him trapped successful a transatlantic tribunal conflict with his enactment maltreatment accuser, Virginia Giuffre, and yet stripped of his HRH rubric by his ain mother.

As a effect the three-part Prime Video bid – starring Michael Sheen arsenic the Prince and Ruth Wilson arsenic interviewer Emily Maitlis – has been viewed with dread by immoderate successful the royal household, with galore erstwhile unit seen connected screen. But conscionable however close is it...

The prince

Think of the astir arrogant, entitled, ­buffoonish and obnoxious bore you can. Now treble it. Only past mightiness you statesman to travel adjacent to Sheen’s brilliantly atrocious portrayal of Prince Andrew.

It’s a characterisation that galore of those who worked for the Duke mightiness find familiar.

Unprintable expletives alert from the royal rima – arsenic they bash successful existent life. I cognize of 1 courtier who insists they could astir consciousness the Prince’s spittle connected their look arsenic helium erstwhile screamed astatine them: ‘F*** disconnected retired of my bureau and f*** disconnected retired of my life’ for daring to connection him immoderate unpalatable advice.

In A Very Royal Scandal Andrew boasts that his parent calls him ‘the Palace entrepreneur’. That was astir decidedly replicated successful existent life: successful a humiliating 2017 interrogation with The Sunday Times helium erstwhile boasted of being an ‘ideas factory’ and the Palace’s ‘entrepreneur successful residence’. 

The dramatisation, meanwhile, sees Sheen’s boorish Prince arrogantly choosing not to ticker the interrogation arsenic it was broadcast but alternatively playing a crippled of ‘guess who’ astatine a meal enactment with a Post-It enactment speechmaking ‘Donald Trump’ stuck to his forehead, pretending to crook implicit and walk wind.

His precocious jinks are punctured erstwhile ‘Mummy’ comes connected the telephone ­having watched it herself. It’s an improbable script since galore judge the Queen couldn’t bring herself to spot her lad truthful humiliated and was alternatively briefed by courtiers.

However it is not each one-sided and Sheen portrays immoderate of Andrew’s vulnerability connected screen: his devotion to his daughters, his vexation astatine the maelstrom of accusations helium tin ne'er reasonably support himself against and the dawning realisation that his gamble has really pulled the rug from nether his feet.

Truth rating: 4/5

The aftermath

Those with intimate cognition of what took spot archer maine that Andrew’s self-congratulatory back-slapping successful the play aft the interrogation is spot on.

Relieved that helium had made each his planned points – including his singular assertion that helium couldn’t person met his accuser, Virginia ­Giuffre, due to the fact that helium was astatine Pizza Express with his girl – the Prince simply had nary comprehension of however severely it had gone.

‘It was a hazard and I felt it... convey you, Emily,’ helium smiles. Andrew besides has immoderate cringeworthy banter with the camera crew, advising them however they should tally the wires for their instrumentality and what the champion angles are. ‘100 per cent DoY (Duke of York),’ says 1 erstwhile staffer, done gritted teeth.

Truth rating: 5/5

Royal phones

One howler shows Andrew successful the plot astatine Royal Lodge, mobile telephone successful hand. A telephone comes successful and the individuality of the caller flashes up connected the screen: ‘Charles.’

The dependable connected the extremity of the phone, belonging to the past Prince of Wales, asks him ‘does Mummy know?’, prompting yet different epic meltdown from the Duke of York.

The King, however, has famously ne'er owned a mobile – he’s a technophobe who lone uses a landline – which allows unit to surface his calls.

And owed to the unusual quality of household relations – positive the information that the monarch hates idiosyncratic confrontation – helium would beryllium improbable to telephone his member to sermon a substance arsenic contentious arsenic this. Senior royals mostly let their backstage secretaries and unit bash the talking.

Truth rating: 0/5

Gravel nightmare

A tiny constituent but 1 for existent royal fans: Maitlis is shown moving chaotically implicit paving stones to get into the Palace. In reality, the entranceway she would person utilized is covered successful reddish gravel, which is simply a nightmare for anyone successful heels, arsenic I tin personally attest.

Truth rating: 0/5

His gatekeeper

The Prince’s devoted Private Secretary Amanda Thirsk, who carried the tin for overmuch of the interview’s fall-out, is portrayed arsenic a dumpy, alternatively hapless and out-of-her-depth affectional punchbag for Andrew.

At 1 constituent helium challenges her to a contention successful his garden, calls her ‘fatty’ and watches portion she gets to her knees to necktie his shoelaces.

Which has travel arsenic alternatively a daze to erstwhile colleagues of Mrs Thirsk, who constituent retired she was really a whip-thin ‘ice maiden’ who was Andrew’s de facto main of staff.

She was, it is true, staunchly – and immoderate mightiness accidental blindly – loyal to the Queen’s son, possibly a fatal mistake fixed his quality flaws.

One erstwhile workfellow tells however Mrs Thirsk started arsenic an bureau manager and ruthlessly fought her mode to the top. ‘She adjacent moved her bureau close adjacent to the Duke’s, truthful thing got past her,’ they claim.

Her frosty demeanour earned her fewer friends, however. ‘She was loathed by the Queen’s household,’ the root adds. ‘She was a gatekeeper with a superior G.’

Others retrieve her much charitably. A person said: ‘Her hubby sadly died young and she worked hard to bring up her 3 girls arsenic a azygous mother. It wasn’t easy. She had a batch of adversity to woody with.’

It is to her credit, they argue, that she roseate to a presumption of powerfulness successful a male-dominated and sometimes starchy organisation. Personally, I recovered her pugnacious but not unfriendly. She was besides profoundly insecure astatine times and acutely alert of the enemies lying successful wait. As her satellite crashed down, she was besides remarkably magnanimous successful defeat.

It was Mrs Thirsk who encouraged Andrew to acceptable up his palmy Pitch At Palace scheme, matching entrepreneurs with angel investors, successful a bid to reconstruct his estimation aft helium was forced to discontinue his relation arsenic a roving UK commercialized ambassador aft a drawstring of controversies.

However she besides acted arsenic a ‘rogue operator’, bypassing the Palace hierarchy and Press Office successful a conflict to make an autarkic empire wrong the household structure.

Wrongly convinced that the infamous representation of Andrew with a young Virginia Giuffre (then Roberts) had been faked, she employed her ain experts to effort to beryllium it. And she was instrumental successful mounting up his BBC interview, secretly gathering with the Newsnight squad astatine Buckingham Palace and negotiating with the broadcaster earlier getting Andrew connected committee and ­presenting it arsenic a fait accompli to elder courtiers.

Sarah, Duchess of York, aboriginal said: ‘This has Amanda Thirsk’s hands each implicit it’. It was Mrs Thirsk who encouraged Andrew to talk ‘openly and honestly’, believing that wasthe lone mode to transportation radical of his innocence. It led to the royal’s singular admittance that helium could not regret ever gathering convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein due to the fact that of the doors the relationship opened to him.

Mrs Thirsk told a friend: ‘The Duke needs each of our support. This is specified a brave and honourable happening to do. I truly anticipation the nationalist and media tin spot his humility, judge his apology and judge his denial. ‘And astir importantly let him to get connected with his work.’

Unfortunately, arsenic we know, Andrew showed small successful the mode of regret and failed to apologise erstwhile for his behaviour – oregon connection immoderate regret for Epstein’s victims.

As the programme depicts, Mrs Thirsk was forced to discontinue her occupation arsenic backstage secretary, though she continued to enactment for Pitch At Palace until the pursuing year.

Mrs Thirsk was past heard of moving for a Chinese e-commerce radical – and inactive won’t perceive a connection against her erstwhile boss, by each accounts.

Truth rating: 2/5

The Courtier

The Queen’s Private Secretary Sir Edward Young is played by Alex Jennings who, confusingly, played Prince Charles successful 2006’s The Queen and the existent monarch’s uncle, the abdicated King Edward VIII, successful Netflix’s The Crown. Jennings plays Sir Edward arsenic a stereotypical ­senior courtier: aged school, snobby and posh.

He surely looks the part: One root says of the famously tight-lipped aide: ‘He looks similar helium has a poker up his a***, truthful cleanable casting!’ Other colleagues, however, importune Sir Edward was acold from the cliche depicted connected screen.

One happening everyone agrees connected is that the Palace stalwart, who near past twelvemonth aft 2 decades moving for the precocious Queen, would ne'er person uttered immoderate of the much outre lines successful the show: including a notation to royal ‘kiddie fiddling’, a ‘clusterf*** worthy of the Kardashians’ and wailing they volition present beryllium ‘shovelling much s*** than Dyno-Rod’.

Nor would helium ever notation truthful casually to ‘Charles’, ‘Edward’ oregon ‘Anne’ (of whom helium sighs is ‘on a equine determination unreachable’) – helium would ever telephone them by their ceremonial title. After all, it was Sir Edward and his squad who were aboriginal liable for the precocious Queen’s elegantly punchy ‘recollections whitethorn vary’ remark. So, different pinch of melodramatic licence.

In a aboriginal country Sir Edward adjacent goes to Mrs Thirsk’s bureau earlier the broadcast demanding to cognize what ‘leverage’ she has with the BBC to propulsion the interrogation and offering to ‘make a call’ himself. All wrong. In truth, the Palace knew the harm was done and was simply preparing its response.

Mrs Thirsk had nary powerfulness to propulsion the plug and nary 1 moving for the Head of State would person leaned connected the nationalist broadcaster to cancel specified a important interview, nevertheless atrocious the result was acceptable to be.

Truth rating: 2/5

Andrew's Exile

In 1 of the closing scenes, Sir Edward is shown visiting a shamed Andrew to interruption the quality that helium wouldn’t beryllium allowed to articulation the remainder of the Royal ­Family to people his mother’s Platinum Jubilee successful 2022, informing him that Covid would beryllium fixed arsenic an excuse. In world it was ne'er intended for the Prince to articulation his parent connected the balcony astatine Buckingham Palace: that was reserved for moving royals.

However helium was invited to a thanksgiving work astatine St Paul’s Cathedral arsenic a consolation, which was successful enactment with the statement made erstwhile helium stepped down from authoritative duties, which permitted him to be larger household functions. 

Although Covid was fixed arsenic the crushed for his lack by the Palace, determination has been nary proposition helium didn’t genuinely person it – and Andrew has attended different royal events since.

A Very Royal Scandal closes with Andrew gazing wistfully retired of the model astatine Royal Lodge astatine the wreckage of his life.

‘Where bash I go? What bash I do? Hmmmm. Tell me. What bash I do?’ helium wails to Sir Edward, who is told by the Duchess of York that she cannot connection him a cupful of beverage arsenic they person had to fto the unit spell (another portion of creator licence).

‘You unrecorded with the consequences of your actions, Sir,’ the courtier says, past bows and leaves.

The last representation is that damning photograph of Andrew with the past teenage Virginia Roberts, which haunts him to this day. His supporters inactive importune it is faked.

Truth rating: 1/5

• A Very Royal Scandal is streaming connected Prime Video.