- How the BBC obtained the bombshell interview with Prince Andrew about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
- The insider account of the inner workings of the Palace and the BBC, twin bastions of the British Establishment, spotlighting the journalists whose tenacity and guts broke through the highest of ceilings and into the inner sanctum and calculations of a man with everything to lose.
- In 2010, New York City photographer Jae Donnelly (Connor Swindells) stakes out a private Manhattan home (on East 71st Street) for an exclusive shot. He had news from his source that Prince Andrew had flown in the night before and he was not staying at the British embassy. He eventually photographs Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) walking with Jeffrey Epstein (Colin Wells) in Central Park after photographing a young girl leaving from the same building just prior. Joe couldn't get the shot of Jeffrey and Andrew together when they left the apartment and follows them around to Central Park (where they had gone for their morning walk) for the shot of them together.
Nine years later, directly after major staffing cuts are announced, young BBC Newsnight guest producer Sam McAlister (Billie Piper) comes across the photo (of Andrew in the park with Jeffrey) printed next to a Prince Andrew sponsored, young entrepreneurs event article (The event is called "Pitch at the palace"). So, she tries to contact the photographer.
Prince Andrew's private secretary Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes) believes the Epstein photo is a key reason the palace's event was not attended by the press. PR representative Jason Stein is consulted by Andrew and Amanda. Andrew insists he ended his friendship with Epstein after the mogul's original underage sex scandals had come to light. Jason says that it takes for the press to move on from a story like this, especially because Andrew is the Queen's favorite son. Andrew is turning 60 in a year's time.
Jason suggests Amanda should reach out to several "friendly" reporters to conduct one-on-one interviews to improve Andrew's image. Having spoken to Sam recently, Amanda agrees to meet and negotiate terms for an interview. Sam wants an exclusive interview, and no questions are off the table. Called out by a co-worker for being vocally critical of lead presenter Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson) and for having sensationalist leanings, the program editor, Esme (Romola Garai), has a word with Sam. Esme makes Sam realize that they need to work as a team to survive the cut backs and innovate the program. Including Emily in the dialogue, she tells her she welcomes her innovations, but reminds her they must find a way to work together regardless of the tension.
Jae gets back to Sam, sharing photos of young girls going in and out of Epstein's Manhattan home. He insists that Epstein has been doing it for many years. The girls come from an apartment block on 66th street owned by Jeffrey' brother but rented by Jeffrey. The girls stay for an hour each. The apartment is a warehouse of nubile, young girls. It is still happening and Jeffrey targets young girls that nobody cares about. Andrew had been at the apartment often back in the day, but Jae had no proof of him being there. Jae asks Sam to look up Ghislaine Maxwell. Sam finds that Ghislaine provided girls to Jeffrey, and she finds a photo of Ghislaine with Andrew in London with a 17 year old girl Virginia Roberts in 2001. Arriving home, Sam finds her mother Netta (Amanda Redman), who has been looking after her teenage son Lucas. Working long hours, she does not get to see him often, but she tries to bond with him over a crush he has on a girl and buying him takeout.
The next day, Amanda invites Sam to Buckingham Palace. After tea, Sam convinces her to leave the grounds for a drink. Amid negotiations for the potential interview with Prince Andrew, Amanda asks what Emily is like, then what Sam knows about her. She knows that she is also a single mother, formally worked in banking and has been working for Andrew for seven years.
Amanda is criticized for meeting Sam for drinks by Jason and Sam is criticized for meeting Amanda by her colleague on the team (who calls the meeting a waste of time as the Palace will never give them an exclusive). Sam is convinced that the Epstein story has legs as Ghislaine Maxwell is one of Andrew's oldest friends. Upset by the altercation, Sam vents to her mother.
Jae calls to let her know that Epstein is about to be taken into custody by the FBI for child sex trafficking. After informing Esme, Sam rushes to Amanda's home to convince Prince Andrew to give Newsnight a TV interview. Amanda is still not sure that she can trust Sam, but she gives Amanda an hour to make up her mind. By the next morning, the investigation formally includes Andrew, as Virgina (now Virginia Giuffre) accuses Andrew that he had sex with her, when she was a minor. Amanda is convinced that none of this is true. Amanda and Jason hold off until Epstein is suddenly found dead in his cell (a month after his arrest), and rumors circulate about the men's friendship. Sam gets her and Emily a negotiation meeting in Buckingham Palace with Amanda, the Prince and his daughter Beatrice (Charity Wakefield). Sam convinces Andrew that he would not be able to turn the narrative around by staying silent. Sam shares an honest analysis of Andrew's image as a playboy, which Beatrice agrees with. Sam says that Andrew's story in his voice is the only way to change the narrative. Emily respectfully declines sharing the list of questions before the interview. Jason believes that it is a mistake to agree to an interview without conditions and quits his job.
Once Newsnight secures the "scoop of the decade", Sam is seemingly left out of the loop, as Esme and Emily work with two male journalists (Stewart (Richard Goulding) and Freddy) and do not include her. Her mother gives her a pep talk, reminding her that she was responsible for the story. In the morning, Amanda calls Sam with the interview time. Emily wants to "get" Andrew, as she feels that she left women down by not pinning down Bill Clinton on Monica Lewinsky. She was 21 years old, and he was the POTUS. He got his life back and she got years of misogyny.
The televised interview broadcast on 16 November 2019 focuses on Andrew's relationship with convicted sex offender Epstein and allegations of Andrew's sexual assault of a minor, which Andrew denies on several occasions. On Sam's advice, Emily allows Andrew to talk and to tell his side of the story. Andrew denies ever throwing a birthday party for Ghislaine and says that all the time he was friends with Jeffrey, he never knew that he was a sex trafficker for minor girls. Emily corners him on the December 2010 photo, after Jeffrey was released from prison in July 2010, having served a convicted sentence for sexual assault of a minor in 2006. Andrew says that he only met Jeffrey in 2010 to break off all future contact. But Emily persists that he stayed for several days and Andrew says that it was a convenient place to stay.
His lack of remorse and accountability on screen - along with now-infamous bizarre, erratic statements about visiting a PizzaExpress in Woking (Virginia had accused him of having danced with her at that time. And Andrew says that he remembers PizzaExpress as it is a very unusual thing for him to do, which sounded elitist) and an apparent inability to sweat - is widely viewed as the public catalyst for the downfall of Prince Andrew, and a major PR crisis for the Royal Family as a whole. Soon afterwards, the Duke chooses to step down from his royal duties.
Despite not admitting guilt, in early 2022, Prince Andrew settled out of court for 12 million pounds for Virginia Giuffre's civil lawsuit for alleged sexual assault. Sam McAlister left the BBC in 2021 and now teaches negotiation at the London School of Economics.
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