A new drama about Prince Andrew's infamous 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis has been made "less accurate", the BBC journalist says. A Very Royal Scandal, released on Amazon Prime today (September 19), sees Michael Sheen play the Duke of York and Ruth Wilson as Emily. But while the script-writers did their best to ensure that the background to the “car-crash” interview was represented accurately, the broadcaster says she deliberately fictionalised some details to protect herself and her family.
Emily, who is an executive producer on the drama adaptation, explained on the News Agents podcast: “At the beginning, I tried really hard to make everything accurate and everything real.” But, Emily added, as cast and crew quizzed her of more and more details about her home life, she came to see that their quest for realism was starting to invade her privacy. Emily, who was born in Canada to a Jewish family that had originally left Germany after the rise of Hitler, recalled: “They'd come around to my house and we’d have chats – such as ‘What if this is Christmas, what would you have a Christmas tree or a Menorah?’ and I'd say ‘Oh yeah, both’.
“At the beginning I was trying to make it very close to my life and then it struck me and I I thought ‘I'm not sure I want to do that’.” She explained she began to feel uncomfortable about having her two young sons represented on screen, and having her house recreated in detail for the show. Emily continued:.