No taboos in the Prince Andrew series

When Michael Sheen was looking for a way to portray the Duke of York, he came across a photo of Prince Andrew as a hero returning home from the Falklands War – with a rose between his teeth.

Grinning, smug, the apple of his mother's eye, a slightly ridiculous royal Romeo: this was the starting point for the actor in his portrayal of the prince in his interview with BBC Two's Newsnight – and in conveying the enormous scale of his fall from grace.

In this gripping three-part Amazon film, “A Very Royal Scandal,” Sheen’s remarkable performance dominates, capturing a prince who is angry and unable to grasp his collapsing status.

“I am the son of the Sovereign – if I want to go on TV and defend myself, I will,” he roars, adding several strong swear words in a way that few royals have been portrayed before.

It is a brutal portrayal that makes the Netflix series “The Crown” look like a rather timid costume drama.

Has a member of the royal family ever been portrayed swearing so much – or palace life as so toxic?

Sheen is famous for the way he brings his characters to life – and his version of Prince Andrew is an explosive mix of vanity, vulnerability and a self-destructive lack of self-awareness as his glamorous life as a royal falls apart after the disastrous interview.

He is a swearing, pompous and then needy character who is unaware of how much his television interrogator Emily Maitlis, played by Ruth Wilson, is embarrassing him.

The interview itself is often described as a “car crash” – but in this version the prince’s call is more like that of a roadkill.

Inevitably, comparisons are made with the current Netflix film Scoopabout the same interview from 2019.

Rufus Sewell said his interpretation of the Prince owes something to David Brent, the disillusioned manager in BBC Two's sitcom The Office.

In this Amazon Prime Video version, Sheen's Prince Andrew is a more complex character: selfish, emotionally numb, ambitious, loyal to his immediate family, distrustful of palace officials, and with a desperate need for approval.

It is a performance in which Richard III meets Alan Partridge.

When the prince learns that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has died in prison, he asks: “Is this good or bad for me?”

And there is a relentless tension between him and his brother, the then Prince of Wales.

“Call me a mama’s boy, he’s a mama’s boy,” Prince Andrew shouts, cursing loudly after an angry phone call.

It is not flattering for the monarchy at all.

Prince Andrew is portrayed as casually rude to servants – and palace officials ponder the royals' lack of empathy: “They have never been late for the train – because the train is waiting for them.”

Although the re-enacted Newsnight interview is the heart of the film, perhaps the most important moment is a scene in the first episode in which the Prince meets Epstein in New York.

It's another torturous interview with a disgraced Prince Andrew in need of money and a tough, exploitative Epstein, played by John Hopkins, putting him in financial distress.

Sheen shows that the prince is overwhelmed by such malice.

And this terrible connection to Epstein runs through the entire film: Prince Andrew protests his innocence while being surrounded by questions and accusations until he hides from his lawyers who want to serve him the court documents.

This is a much more structured and ultimately more exciting portrayal of events than the Netflix film.

It shows the impact on Prince Andrew's environment, including his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, and their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Their loyalty to him is portrayed as that of a real family rather than that of the royal family.

Amanda Thirsk, Prince Andrew's private secretary, wonderfully played by Joanna Scanlan, still defends him despite losing her job as a result of the Newsnight interview.

And their relationship, a mixture of mutual dependence and scapegoating, is reminiscent of that of Alan Partridge and his assistant Lynn.

The prince's downfall comes with his fateful television interview.

And this film recalls some of the most famous moments – like his lines about not being able to sweat and going to a Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey, which were almost cut in the editing process.

But despite the awards and acclaim she subsequently received, Maitlis also seems to doubt herself.

She raises the question of what happened to Epstein's victims and points out that the legal proceedings have not resulted in any resolution.

At the heart of this drama is ambiguity.

The civil case in the US between Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre ended with an out-of-court settlement, with the prince firmly denying any allegations of wrongdoing.

But neither side had to appear in court.

And the film shows Prince Andrew wanting to give the Newsnight interview because he believes it will test his claim that the photo of him and Ms Giuffre may be fake.

The other big unknown for the viewer is how much is fact and how much is fiction.

Did Prince Andrew really call his private secretary “fat” and have a race with her through the garden?

Did Elizabeth II's private secretary, the urbane Sir Edward Young, really say things like, “We're going to shovel more shit than Dyno-Rod.”

The film is accompanied by the note: “This drama is based on true events and characters. Some scenes have been fictionalized and adapted for dramatic purposes.”

This is not a documentary and the narrative style and pace of a drama require changes in the sequence of events.

In the film, for example, Prince Andrew is told that Covid is a face-saving excuse for not having to attend the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

In fact, Covid was cited as an explanation for why he missed an anniversary service.

But a month earlier, the palace had openly stated in a press conference that the prince would not stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace because he was no longer working as a member of the royal family.

The suggestion of secrecy seems dramatic – but in reality his exclusion from public life was even more brutal.

But such haunting dramas tend to overwrite history – and Sheen's portrayal could change the memory of Prince Andrew forever.

A Very Royal Scandal, Prime Video, broadcast in three episodes from 19 September