A Very Royal Scandal executive producer Karen Thrussell on journalism, Poldark and more

Amazon Prime Video recently released the third chapter of its anthology of British scandals. A very royal scandal starring Ruth Wilson (Mrs. Wilson) and Michael Sheen (Gallows glass, Good signs) is a re-enactment of Prince Andrew’s disastrous 2019 BBC Newsnight interview. The three-part limited series focuses more on the interview and its fallout in the UK than on other aspects of the Epstein scandal.

Earlier this year, Netflix also released its own dramatization of Prince Andrew’s troubles (Scoop) plus the last season Crown documenting the reign of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1950s to the 1990s. The Tudors, The White Princess, The White QueenAND Spanish Princess also focus on the turbulent lives of past British monarchs. MASTERPIECE also featured both biographical and fictional versions of the royal family. In 2017,
King Charles III The limited series presented an alternative history of the events following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Crossing the Atlantic,
VictoriaAND
Wolf Hall take place earlier in history, but all have as a central theme scandals in the royal family.

GBH Drama spoke to Executive Producer Karen Thrussell about the production process, why audiences love royal dramas and the latest on the rumours of a possible return of the beloved MASTERPIECE.

Previous seasons of the British Scandal Anthology — A Very British Scandal AND A Very English Scandal — have a different tone. “There’s a lightness and wit to the scandals,” Thrussel said. Prince Andrew’s distance from the lives of ordinary people and the journalist’s drive to uncover as much truth as possible drive the drama of these three episodes.

A very royal scandal is based on one chapter of Emily Matlis’ autobiography Airhead, which chronicles some of her most famous interviews and investigations on BBC Newsnight. The series had the blessing of Matlis, as well as those who worked with her. “We went to Newsnight and spoke to Stewart Maclean, one of the producers of Newsnight, who showed us around the studios,” Thrussell said.

Americans may have no political affiliation with the British royal family, but they still flock to TV shows and movies where royal affairs, power grabs, rivalries and other intrigues drive the action. American viewers A very royal scandal already have some insight into the headlines. American journalists have run stories on the BBC Newsnight interview as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal embroils US politicians, business leaders and celebrities. It also details Virginia Giuffre’s account and an update on the legal proceedings of Epstein’s associate, Gislane Maxwell.

“Crown has been covering the royal family for years and it was interesting to see what was going on behind the scenes because sometimes the royal family and their public face don’t seem like real people,” Thrussell said. “It’s quite interesting to see who these people really are. I think this particular storyline… will go down in British history. Prince Andrew lost all his titles after that interview. It almost matches the abdication of King Edward and Wallis Simspon and Edward. It’s such a dramatic interview and one of the best bits of television that wasn’t drama because it’s just a total car crash and fascinating to watch.”

The most difficult part of the production process wasn’t Wilson, Sheen and the other cast members working with accent coaches and matching their real-life counterparts. “Recreating Buckingham Palace is quite difficult in real life because of those princely high ceilings,” Thrussell says. “We used Wilton Hall for filming, which has beautiful high ceilings and lots of gold. All the palaces are, they’re quite red and gold and quite distinctive, and we actually chose the colour palette that we showed Newsnight in and all that stuff: we showed the set as shades of blue and then we showed the palace as red and gold. So we always had that colour palette in mind when we were filming.”

Although the episodes feature Prince Andrew and others discussing their views on what could have happened, A very royal scandal avoids treating the situation as a joke. “We did a lot of research into what was in the public domain about what Andrew was like,” Thrussell said. “In terms of the royal family, it wasn’t particularly appropriate for someone from the royal family to be in the team, but we had a royal advisor and we spoke to someone who knew Andrew before. We didn’t want to make fun of it and be particularly cruel to the character when we shouldn’t have. When he comes in and tells his staff to ‘fuck off’, we looked at that and he does that, and there’s evidence of that.”

The episodes cover publicly available facts about Prince Andrew’s case and his family’s response, but they don’t assume he’s guilty or go into graphic detail about the allegations. “We would never focus solely on Epstein because it’s just too horrific. There’s a lot with Prince Andrew that we don’t know and we can’t prove exactly what happened. It’s also about journalism and speaking truth to power and things like that. We have great respect for the rest of the royal family and as people,” Thrussell said. “For example, I hope that Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice do well because they’re children who — it’s not their fault that their father did what he’s guilty of, and we don’t know exactly what he’s guilty of because he was never at court.”

This careful consideration is part of the cultural differences between many audiences in Britain and America. The monarchy and its representatives are an active presence in British society and politics, and public opinion is divided on their actions. While British comedians reference the monarchy in their jokes, there are legal limits to what can be said in the media. British law has much lower standards for libel and slander against public figures and celebrities than American law. Blueprint Pictures, the production company behind A very royal scandalhe didn’t want the Palace, Giuffre, or other victims to have a legal basis for complaint. These legal considerations are often why many creators choose the safer route of dramatizing royal scandals when everyone is long dead, since the dead can’t be defamed.

What’s the next scandal or story from Blueprint Pictures? “I think we probably wouldn’t do another royal, but we’ve got to do something global and that everyone can enjoy,” Thrussell said. “It’s hard to find scandals that feel modern but aren’t too distasteful. The BBC have ordered more Scandal anthology scripts, so we’re a quarter of the way there with those,” Thrussell said. “We’ve got a script from Jez Butterworth that we’re hoping to do next year, hopefully. We’ve got a lot of stuff that’s in the works that we’re just (waiting) to hear (what) goes down. Hopefully, we’ll have something else up and running in the new year.” Blueprint also still has permission to dramatize other events from Matlis’ book. “It would be nice to do an editorial drama that focuses on a character, maybe not Emily, but a character like Emily,” Thrussell said. “She’s got a bag packed by the door in case her editor rings her up and she’s rushing off somewhere. I thought it might be a good drama that could be turned around.”

Some very keen MASTERPIECE fans may recognize Thrussell’s name from the opening or closing credits of several fan-favorite shows, such as Marble adjustment, Poirot, and of course, Poldark. This fall marks five years since the last Poldark The episode aired and there were several rounds of online rumours about a reboot. Thrussell has left Poldark production company Mammoth Screen, but remains friendly with her former co-stars and would agree to a reunion if it were given the green light. “I would love to, because no one has ever finished all the Poldark novels and I mean personally I would love to, but we just have to get people to say they want to see it, I guess, and get the commissioners to do it and then of course convince the actors to come back to it.”

A very royal scandal is currently available on Prime Video as Season 3 A Very British Scandal.