The first images have been released of Michael Sheen playing Prince Andrew in a drama based on his notorious BBC interview. The Welsh actor portrays the Duke of York in A Very Royal Scandal, when he spoke to Emily Maitlis on BBC Two's Newsnight. The three-part drama, produced by Amazon MGM Studios, shows how he declared his innocence following accusations about his involvement with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.

Alongside Sheen as Prince Andrew, the series stars Ruth Wilson as Emily Maitlis. Ms Giuffre alleged that the incidents took place in London, New York, and the Virgin Islands after being introduced to the duke by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This is not the first time the interview has been adapted for the big screen, with Netflix’s Scoop starring Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew and Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis having already been released. Sheen is known for his transformative performances, and has put his own spin on figures such as TV presenters David Frost, in Frost/Nixon, and Chris Tarrant in the ITV drama Quiz, and football manager Brian Clough in The Damned United. A Very Royal Scandal is said to be no different, with Sheen reflecting Prince Andrew’s mannerisms. The actor is known for combining acting with activism on issues such as homelessness, and earlier this year directed and starred in BBC Wales' The Way, a fictional story set in his home town of Port Talbot and its threatened steelworks. A Very Royal Scandal is the latest in Amazon’s Scandal series, which has seen the online streamer collaborate with the BBC on A Very British Scandal and A Very English Scandal. Amazon MGM Studios said the series would demonstrate “the power of journalism through a pivotal moment in British history.” The cast also includes Joanna Scanlan as Amanda Thirsk, Alex Jennings as Sir Edward Young, Éanna Hardwicke as Stewart Maclean and Claire Rushbrook as Sarah Ferguson. A Very Royal Scandal will debut on Prime Video on 19 September.

The show will reportedly document the disgraced royal's infamous Newsnight interview from November 2019, with Emily Maitlis being played by Ruth Wilson. The show is set to focus on the real-life 2019 interview between Maitlis and Andrew over the accusations he faced regarding his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Guiffre. It "follows the action of Maitlis and Prince Andrew in the leadup to the interview, the groundbreaking event itself and the many questions left in its wake that would change their lives forever," according to the synopsis. Andrew was flayed for defending his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his failure to mention Epstein’s victims during the interview. Back in April, Netflix released its own dramatisation of the events with Scoop, starring Rufus Sewell as Andrew and Gillian Anderson as Maitlis, who's an executive producer on A Very Royal Scandal, and the series "is understood to be told more from her perspective". In the 2019 interview, King Charles III spoke out for the first time about his friendship with Epstein and allegations that he had sex with Virginia Guiffre when she was 17. In January 2022, Queen Elizabeth II stripped the Duke of York of his military titles and patronages amid Guiffre’s civil sexual assault lawsuit that has since been settled out of court for an undisclosed amount with the Duke of York making no admission of guilt.

The drama, set to premiere on September 19, will focus on Prince Andrew's infamous 2019 BBC Newsnight interview where the Duke of York faced intense scrutiny over his connections with Jeffrey Epstein. Michael Sheen will star as Prince Andrew, while Ruth Wilson will portray as Emily Maitlis, the BBC anchor. The series will explore the events leading up to the interview, the interview itself, and the fallout that followed. Directed by The Crown director Julian Jarrold, and written by Jeremy Brock, who penned The Last King of Scotland, this show will also feature Joanna Scanlan as Amanda Thirsk, Andrew’s private secretary, and Claire Rushbrook as Sarah Ferguson. A Very Royal Scandal is set to bow on September 19 on Prime Video in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The three-part retelling of the pivotal interview that changed history, produced by Blueprint Television for Amazon MGM Studios, features Michael Sheen (Good Omens, Masters of Sex) as Prince Andrew and Ruth Wilson (Luther, Jane Eyre) as journalist Emily Maitlis. A Very Royal Scandal also stars Joanna Scanlan as Amanda Thirsk, Alex Jennings as Sir Edward Young, Éanna Hardwicke as Stewart Maclean and Claire Rushbrook as Sarah Ferguson. The series was directed by Julian Jarrold and written by Jeremy Brock. It was produced by Blueprint Television for Amazon MGM Studios and is being distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Television. Karen Thrussell, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Diarmuid McKeown, Jeremy Brock, Jarrold and Maitlis herself serve as executive producers. Josh Hyams serves as a producer on the series.

Not quite a car crash, more ‘a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion'. Such was the description, by some, of Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview. Now, the biggest names in British cinema are battling it out to tell the definitive story of the royal scandal that has defined a generation. Straightforward shooting weekends were never the same. Almost two million viewers tuned in to see Tatler cover star Emily Maitlis grill the Duke of York on his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, watching on as the Queen’s son told the world that he was unable to sweat. He would promptly step back from royal duties. Now, audiences will revisit the scoop of the century through fresh eyes, as the first shots of Amazon Prime’s A Very Royal Scandal have been released. Michael Sheen is set to play the scandal-mired Prince, and Tatler cover star Ruth Wilson looks unrecognisable as Maitlis – who graced the cover herself in August. A Very Royal Scandal will follow the trajectory of events surrounding the Newsnight interview. Episode one sees Emily striving to bag a sit-down discussion with Andrew, who protests his innocence as international attention turns towards Buckingham Palace in the wake of Epstein’s suicide. The interview itself forms the heart of episode two, then episode three carries on its wake, exploring how both sides confront the events that will have changed their lives – and trips to Pizza Express – forever.

The show is the second drama to document the downfall of Prince Andrew, and comes only five months after Netflix’s Scoop told the story from the perspective of booker Sam McAlister, played by Billie Piper. With Gillian Anderson in the role of Emily Maitlis and Rufus Sewell as the Duke of York, Scoop offered a shocking insight into palace PR and a behind-the-scenes look at journalistic practice. Amazon has confirmed that A Very Royal Scandal will focus far more on Maitlis than Andrew, documenting ‘the lead-up to the interview, the ground-breaking event itself and the many questions left in its wake that would change their lives forever.' Matilis, who serves as executive producer on the show, spoke to Deadline about whether there was any rivalry between the two back-to-back programmes: 'I think that probably is overplayed, overstated,’ she said. ‘This will be a very different beast. I’m sure there’s room for both.’ Certainly both have had the guidance of insider information. Maitlis may have left the makers of Scoop to their own devices – ‘the last thing they want is me peeking around the edges,’ she told the outlet – but the Netflix show was based on Sam McAlister’s tell all book, Scoops. The legendary booker revealed all to Tatler about how it felt seeing one of the biggest moments of her life put to screen, describing how it felt to see acting royalty Billie Piper don her now infamous snakeskin boots: ‘We practised my walk, discussed my wardrobe. I watched her transform into the black-leather-swathed, snakeskin-booted, Louis Vuitton-handbag-toting, lipgloss-drenched Sam. With Billie wearing a wig of my blonde curls, the likeness was so uncanny that even the crew got us confused. Four years later, I was behind that royal chair again. This time, it was inhabited by ‘our’ Andrew, the mesmerising Rufus Sewell. We were in a studio in Watford or Luton in a reconstructed Palace room. In my line of sight was ‘our’ Emily: Gillian Anderson. Rufus was saying those same, excruciating lines.’ As for any rivalry between projects? McAlister, like Maitlis, nipped that in the bud: ‘Such is the interest in the story that Emily Maitlis has her own project on the go – a three-part Amazon series. Some newspapers keep trying to hint at a feud between us, but I’m thrilled for her, genuinely. I can’t wait to find out who’s playing me and to see her played by Ruth Wilson… and ‘her’ Andrew, Michael Sheen.’ And now we know: following in the stilletoed footsteps of Piper and McAlister will be Clare Calbraith, star of Mr Bates vs. The Post Office. It is unlikely – and perhaps for the best – that A Very Royal Scandal will not go as ‘nuclear’ as the interview it depicts, but one thing can be certain: all eyes will be returning to Buckingham Palace come 19 September.