When Prince Andrew’s now infamous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis aired back in 2019, many wondered why the Duke had agreed to the sit down that ultimately led to him stepping down from royal duties.
Thanks to Netflix’s film Scoop, directed by Philip Martin and based on Sam McAlister's memoir book, viewers from all over the world have more of an understanding of what went on behind the scenes to secure one of the biggest interviews of the past decade.
While Netflix’s number 1 film in the UK, and many other countries, gives a near-perfect account, in this week’s episode of A Right Royal Podcast, hosts Andrea Caamano and Emmy Griffiths, alongside HELLO!'s royal editor Emily Nash, caught up with Sam McAlister so she could answer all of their burning questions, including what she told Prince Andrew that convinced him to sit down with Emily.
© GettyOf what she said to him during the negotiation meeting at Buckingham Palace, which lasted for two hours, Sam said: "I said that in the negotiation, you know, if you have good answers, do the interview. Because the nation needs to hear from you."
She continued: "But on the other side, obviously, conversely, if you have terrible answers, or you haven't really thought it through, or you don't understand what the nation is looking for, you're going to get in a lot of trouble."
© NetflixSam went on to explain: "I think he misunderstood what we were looking for. We were looking for a circumspect kind of moment, where he said sorry in 100 ways without admitting liability, because he still denies these allegations vigorously.
"And when he didn't manage that, and he said, these rather off-the-collar remarks kind of missing the point, like 'straightforward shooting weekend', it just got on the increment worse and worse, but obviously, he thought those were good answers, which is why he gave them and at the end of the interview, we looked ashen, and he looked very pleased."
© NetflixElsewhere in the interview, Sam reveals the reason she never asked the palace for permission to write her book about the interview, where she was when she learned that the Duke would be stepping down from royal duties, and her relationship with his former private secretary Amanda Thirsk.
LOVE THE ROYALS? JOIN THE CLUB!
If you are reading this, the chances are you are obsessed with all things royalty – which is just as well because so are we! So obsessed, in fact, we’ve launched a club solely dedicated to covering them. So welcome to The HELLO! Royal Club. We would love you to join us there…
What is it?
Interactive community offering behind-the-scenes access, exclusive royal interviews, unmissable royal insights, and an illustrious royal Inner Circle.
Member benefits
- Two weekly newsletters, one from Emily Nash
- Video posts and audio notes from Emily Nash and the HELLO! Royal team
- Access to our royal community and opportunity to interact with club writers and members
- Participate in polls, comments and discussion threads
- Royal-themed puzzles with a weekly prize to be won
- Access to our Ask Me Anything sessions with our journalists
- Invitations to in-person and virtual events
- A subscription to the digital edition of HELLO! Magazine (Worth £82 annually)*
- Future ‘Inner Circle’ benefits
By royal decree
You are royally invited to join The HELLO! Royal Club – and then to go forth and spread the word to your fellow royal fans. See you in the club!
Andrea and Emmy also chat to Alex Waldmann, who plays PR guru Jason Stein, and details how he met up with Jason himself to get the inside scoop.
