A Very Royal Scandal Dramatizes Sisters’ Emotional Reaction to Infamous Interview
The new royal drama A Very Royal Scandal portrays Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie as visibly distressed while watching Prince Andrew’s career-ending 2019 Newsnight interview, illustrating the emotional impact on the sisters.
Starring Michael Sheen as Prince Andrew, the series features Honor Swinton Byrne as Princess Beatrice and Sofia Oxenham as Princess Eugenie. In a poignant scene, the two are shown in tears, sitting together on a sofa as the controversial interview unfolds on television.
While the York sisters have never publicly commented on the interview, a friend of Beatrice and Eugenie told The Daily Beast, “Put yourself in their shoes. This film will criticise their father, and defending him would only make things worse.”
A separate source close to Beatrice added, “There’s nothing good to say about it. It’s a difficult situation for them, and they’re just trying to move on with their lives.”
In the series, a dramatic close-up of Beatrice, portrayed by Honor Swinton Byrne, shows her crying with her eyes closed—a possible representation of the guilt she may have felt, as she accompanied her father to the pre-interview meeting and encouraged him to go through with it.
Following the disastrous broadcast, Prince Andrew stepped back from public life and relinquished all his royal duties. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II stripped him of his honorary military titles and medals, marking a significant fall from grace for the Duke of York.
