The reason there’s so much talk these days about Prince Andrew’s deplorable 2019 Newsnight interview is because one of the BBC producers has written a book about the whole episode. The book is called Scoop and there will be a film adaptation of the book. Scoop tells the “inside story” of how the BBC negotiated with Prince Andrew and Buckingham Palace to secure the interview and what happened before, during and after the interview. The book was written by Sam McAlister, who left the BBC and she’s been shilling her book all over the place. Which leads me to this Telegraph piece about how everyone’s mad at McAlister – her BBC colleagues think she’s a credit-hog and Prince Andrew thinks she’s a liar. In particular, Andrew doesn’t know what McAlister is talking about when she claimed the BBC has a “shocking” and “embarrassing” unreleased photo from the filming. The way the unreleased photo is being hyped, you would think that this one image would bring down the monarchy. Some highlights from the Telegraph:
Palace frustrations: At both the BBC and Buckingham Palace, there is also frustration that McAlister’s version of events is being accepted as fact. One royal source echoed the Queen on the subject, wrily noting that “recollections may vary”. There are specific, critical details which several insiders contest. Another said they certainly “do not recognise everything that has been stated.”
Andrew’s one to talk about exploiting the royals for financial gain: A friend of the Duke told The Telegraph: “This latest exploitation for financial gain of a book and now a film, of what was and remains, a very difficult time for the family, is unwelcome. Not least as the account of events leading up to and around the interview appear to have elements of dramatic licence.”
The shocking photo: Recent claims in the media surrounding the alleged existence of a “shocking” photograph of the Duke, said to have been captured by a photographer working for the BBC on the day of the interview, have also been dismissed as “nonsense.” No one involved is said to have seen or heard of such a photograph.
Reading through the full piece, I 100% understand why people within the BBC are mad at McAlister. She’s taking full credit for the work of a team, and she’s not giving Emily Maitlis, who interviewed Andrew, enough credit at all. Besides all that, it absolutely seems like overkill? While the interview was big news and it caused Andrew to “step down,” Andrew is clearly an idiot. As soon as he started speaking to anyone, he was going to incriminate himself.
As for “sources close to Andrew” and their complaints…I’m still really curious about the embarrassing photo story. I have no doubt that there are plenty of unreleased photos where Andrew looks stupid or gross, but the way McAlister has hyped the pic… I’m not sure it really exists?
Photos courtesy of BBC Newsnight, WENN.
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- Emily Maitlis interviews the Duke of York, Prince Andrew on his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Newsnight. Broadcast on BBC Two Featuring: Duke of York, Prince Andrew When: 16 Nov 2019 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.**
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- Emily Maitlis interviews the Duke of York, Prince Andrew on his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Newsnight. Broadcast on BBC Two Featuring: Duke of York, Prince Andrew When: 16 Nov 2019 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.**
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- Emily Maitlis interviews the Duke of York, Prince Andrew on his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Newsnight. Broadcast on BBC Two Featuring: Duke of York, Prince Andrew When: 16 Nov 2019 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.**
I just can’t imagine what anyone would think we would find shocking about Andrew at this point. Is there literally anything left that he could do that wouldn’t make us just shrug and think, “yeah, that tracks?”
I figured he grabbed someone’s boob or something. LOL!
Wasn’t there some rumor about Andrew and stuffed animals? I wonder if they caught a pic of his bedroom…
The only thing about Andrew that would shock me at this point would be finding out he actually doesn’t sweat.
About the only thing that could live up to the hype would be an image à la another Jeffrey..this time Toobin. as in PA tugging on his tiny scepter. which would not surprise me a bit
Andrew’s enough of an embarrassment even without any particular photo. And it says a lot that people were like, ‘yeah, the BBC took an embarrassing photo of Andrew, no question.’ Even without seeing the darn thing.
The story doesn’t make a huge amount of sense but still, I hope it’s real and they provide receipts.
maybe he’s sweating profusely? which was one of his excuses, that he couldn’t sweat.
Maybe. But just sweating, at his age, after all the gross photos we’ve already seen of him looking shiny probably isn’t a huge bombshell.
If someone said he had been messing around before the interview and done something crass/racist/misogynist I would believe that though.
What could possibly be an embarrassing picture of him at this point?? It can’t possibly make him look worse because that isn’t possible
In the other CB post about this, the photographer himself is quoted as saying the photo would embarrass Prince Andrew and the royal family, so it does seem that there is a photo out there. so maybe its embarrassing but not as shocking as some want to make it out to be. IDK. I can’t think of what could have happened that night that would have been so shocking (besides the actual interview of course.)
Didn’t Emily Maitlis say that Andrew offered to give them a tour of BP once the interview was over (since he thought it had gone so well and all, lol)? So maybe it’s something elsewhere in the palace…although I still can’t imagine what could be THAT scandalous.
Or Sam got a photo of a photo that was in another room? Yes it’s insane that something that incriminating would be out in the open, but we’re talking about Andrew here.
She’s really going to look like an idiot if she hyped this picture so much in order to sell more books and it doesn’t exist or isn’t that big a deal.
Like, the worst thing I can think of is maybe a (years-old) photo of the Queen with Epstein? And even then, the entire country would come out to defend her, saying she didn’t know who he was, etc.— it wouldn’t “bring down the monarchy” ffs.
There is no way that this picture is potentially more damaging to the monarchy than 5 AM emails. The monarchy is safe.
The horror. THE HORROR!!
HeatherC for the win! P.S. did anyone check to see what color nail polish the interviewer was wearing as well?
Sweaty pits? That’s all I’ve got.
Tea4 – I think you are right!! When the photo was initially talked about, I didn’t realize that it was from the night of the interview, so I was imagining Andrew in a pool with a half-naked girl on Pedo Island. But a picture from the night of the interview? The only thing I can think of is sweaty Andrew.
Hmm.. I went back and reread the first article Kaiser wrote about this, and noticed the careful wording used in both excerpts. They say that a photographer who was working for the BBC on the night of the interview has taken a ‘shocking’ photo of Andrew, but they never explicitly say that the photo was taken on the night of the interview. In the first article the photographer even hints that the photo may be featured in the film about how the BBC secured the interview, which to me reads like they had an incredibly embarrassing photo of him and used it as leverage to get him to agree to give them the interview. If that’s true, it has echoes of how Bashir secured the Diana interview (meaning, the methods were totally shady but that doesn’t change the actual contents of the interview).
I mean, it is possible that this photographer caught Andrew sweating profusely as he clutched one of his 50 teddy bears before the interview started, but to me it makes much more sense that the photo isn’t from the night itself.
@ Sunday, that’s an interesting take on the supposed shocking photo. It does have merit though. I imagine it wouldn’t be hard to take an embarrassing photo of Andrew as he is habitually compromising the Monarchy.
Ooooh, this is a good interpretation, the wording is tricky though.
so first we have this line – “A photographer working for the BBC during Prince Andrew’s car-crash Newsnight interview claims to have taken a shocking picture of the Royal that would shake the monarchy if it ever became public.” So that makes sense with your theory, the line doesnt say the picture was taken the night of the interview.
But then later on that article says in a quote from Harrison (the photog) – “There is a lot more from that day that is not yet in the public domain.” “that day” seems to mean the day of the interview.
Either way its interesting – your interpretation brings back memories of Bashir and Diana obviously, but at any rate the photographer himself is saying that there is “a” photograph and that it would be a big deal for the royals. Hmmmmmm.
@Sunday, this is a good theory!
Maybe it’s a photo of him accepting shopping bags full of money from a shady billionaire. Oh wait, that’s already happened.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Maybe Andrew has a pregnant girlfriend? Lol, it’s fun to speculate.
Like I said before, the whole thing was a nothingburger dredged up because the Sussexes were otherwise going to dominate headlines that day, and would vanish into nothingness once the day was over. Here we are. They used a convenient and believable scapegoat (Andrew), threw in a false but believable claim (DAMNING photo!) and just threw it out there as a hail Mary against the wall-to-wall Sussex coverage. Jealousy is an ugly beast.
A hail Mary from whom though? The press? the press is who likes to keep the Sussexes front and center, they can’t help themselves. The royals? The Firm certainly doesnt want people talking about a scandalous photo from the Newsnight interview.
Both. The British press doesn’t want the Sussexes getting too much positive attention because that would turn Google’s algorithm against their daily diet of hate screeds. The royals don’t want the Sussexes “overshadowing” them, especially through an international organization that eclipses the Commonwealth in influence.
For the sake of humanity, please stop showing pictures with Andrew’s tongue exposed.
Peed his pants? Popped a woody? Masturbating in the bathroom? Having sex with Epstein or Maxwell?
I also like the sweating guess above. That would be HIGH-larious!
The only thing I can think is that he’s flashing someone, with his fly open, and his droopy junk peeping out. That would be embarrassing. And who would be surprised?