The Crown may be over, but Netflix still doesn’t have enough of the British Royal Family, it seems. After almost 10 years and many awards (the last season will be eligible for the July Emmy), the platform is scheduling the film The Scoop, starring Rufus Sewell and Gillian Anderson, for April.

The film goes behind the scenes of Prince Andrew‘s (Sewell) infamous interview with the BBC’s Newsnight newspaper in 2022 when his name was already associated with that of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the sexual exploitation of minors. Andrew, at the time, went against all the advice he received from Buckingham Palace and his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, to “never complain, never explain”.

To be fair, it was virtually complex for the prince, and by extension, the Windsors, to remain silent when accusations of their participation in and knowledge of the scheme were being discussed so publicly, with photos and testimonies from survivors.

Behind-the-scenes negotiations between producer Sam McAlister (Billie Piper) and the Palace team were tense, for obvious reasons. Still, the precision of the questioning of journalist Emily Maitlis (Anderson) was one of the highlights of what basically became Andrew’s last public appearance, who was ‘removed’ from public life and made a million-dollar deal with the witness to avoid FBI questioning and even imprisonment in the United States.

The focus of the narrative, in fact, is not so much on Andrew’s drama, but on the work and dedication of the journalists who were bold and determined to get the scoop.

In 2023, I spoke to actress Charity Wakefield, who plays Andrew’s eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, who supported him in the interview and would have helped the production in some way.

“We are talking about people who are very significant in my life, in the life of my country, and events that are very difficult subjects,” she explained. “Playing someone important like Princess Beatrice was a very delicate process, but I feel very honored to play her because she is someone I have always admired and still admire,” she said at the time.

Now the first trailer for the film has been released by Netflix, which shows Emily Maitlis preparing for the prince’s humiliating interrogation, walking towards the camera as the crew prepares for recording.

The release date is scheduled for April 5th. It will be interesting to see Gillian, who played Margaret Thatcher in The Crown, again in the dramatic universe of the Windsors.

Furthermore, Rufus Sewell seems to be as perfect as Andrew, a choice that was not so obvious when it was announced, not so much due to lack of talent, but the physical difference.

And as the teaser says: an interview can change everything. In fact, it has changed.

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