Princess Beatrice Is Likely ‘Annoyed and Upset’ About Being Portrayed in ‘Scoop,’ Royal Author Says
It seems April 2024 isn’t off to a good start for Princess Beatrice ever since Netflix’s Scoop premiered. The 35-year-old British royal is portrayed—very briefly—in the film about her father, Prince Andrew’s 2019 Newsnight interview regarding his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. According to an expert, Beatrice is likely “annoyed and upset” she’s depicted in the film.
Beatrice will be ‘dreading’ the ‘difficult time ahead’ amid her portrayal in ‘Scoop’
Scoop debuted on April 5, 2024. With it came a depiction of Beatrice as her father, Andrew, played by Rufus Sewell, and his team negotiated with BBC Newsnight’s Sam McAlister (Billie Piper) and Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson).
The interview aired in November 2019. It resulted in Andrew losing his HRH [His Royal Highness] status and being removed from the list of working royals.
Charity Wakefield plays Beatrice in Scoop, who’s seen in one scene attending a Buckingham Palace meeting. Across the table are Maitlis and McAlister. Just like in real life, Scoop’s Beatrice took notes on a clipboard.
Per Jennie Bond, a former BBC royal correspondent, Beatrice “will be annoyed and upset” that she’s portrayed in the film (via The Daily Mail). Furthermore, she’s likely been “dreading” Scoop’s release and the “difficult time ahead” that comes with it.
Bond told the outlet the film, which is based on McAlister’s Scoops book, “broadcast[s] the whole story” of Andrew’s connection to Epstein to an even wider audience than the 2019 Newsnight interview.
“It’s altogether very bad news for Andrew. And, indeed, for his whole family,” Bond said. “Beatrice, in particular, will undoubtedly be annoyed and upset that her part in setting up and monitoring the interview will now be made so much more public.”
Beatrice attending the ‘Newsnight’ interview meeting with Andrew was a ‘curve ball’
Sam McCalister, the Newsnight producer and talent booker who secured the interview with Andrew, got a big surprise when she sat down with him.
“Around the corner comes his daughter, Princess Beatrice. That was really quite a curve ball of curve balls,” McCalister said in Andrew – The Problem Prince (via Newsweek).
“Can you imagine being in Buckingham Palace about to talk to a member of the royal family about sexual offenses? That’s pretty tricky. And now I’ve got to do it in front of his daughter?”
In her book, McCalister recalled the moment when the Duke of York announced he’d brought someone along to the negotiations. She thought he meant a lawyer only to see Beatrice.
“To be frank, the only thing worse than speaking to a prospective interviewee about allegations of sexual impropriety and sex with a 17-year-old girl is having to do so in front of his daughter,” McAlister wrote.
She went on to describe Beatrice as “polite and engaged.” However, “unlike her father, she was evidently anxious about the meeting and clearly there to protect his interests.”
“I’d heard she was close to the Queen [Elizabeth II]. The prince’s eldest daughter was now, I felt, the person who could make the difference between us getting the interview or not.”
Following a meeting in which they discussed interview topics, McCalister recalled a moment between Andrew and Beatrice. He “turned to Princess Beatrice and said that they had a lot to discuss. And they should go, straight after, upstairs, to talk about it, over a cup of tea, with mum [Queen Elizabeth].”
Princess Beatrice’s wedding may have been a factor in Andrew’s agreeing to the interview
According to Maitlis, Andrew’s own reasons for participating in the interview may have involved Beatrice. At the time of the sit-down, November 2019, Beatrice had recently announced her engagement to her now-husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Meaning at the time she planned her nuptials scheduled for May 2020 at St. James’ Palace. (Beatrice and Mozzi ultimately wed in a small, private ceremony in July due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.)
“It’s the first time the thought crossed my mind that maybe he was doing it for her,” Maitlis said.
“Your life has been hellish. You’ve had to read these headlines. You’re trying to get married. I’m going to do this to make it better for you. I don’t know if that’s true, but it crossed my mind.”
Maitlis also revealed in an April 2023 column for The Times that she had her own concerns “in the aftermath” of the interview. Particularly about the toll Andrew’s comments might have on Beatrice and her sister, Princess Eugenie, 34.
“How could an interview that aimed to provide answers for vulnerable young women not end up hurting other vulnerable young women—his daughters—along the way?” Maitlis wrote.
Scoop is streaming on Netflix.
