Royal commentator and historian Rafe Heydel-Mankoo says Prince Andrew "cannot escape" his historic BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, as streaming giant Netflix released a film based on the event.
The Duke of York is facing his latest "worrying moment" as the company has released a film, named Scoop, which details the BBC's efforts in securing an interview with the royal, amid his ongoing affiliation with Jeffrey Epstein.
Maitlis, played by Gillian Anderson, said she left Netflix "very much to do their own thing", claiming: "The last thing they want is me peeking around the edges offering my view."
Speaking to GB News, Heydel-Mankoo said the original interview, which took place in 2019, was the "worst PR disaster since the Duke of Windsor gave a Nazi salute to Adolf Hitler in 1937".
Rafe Heydel-Mankoo says Prince Andrews interview is the 'worst decision he's ever made'
PA / GB News
Heydel-Mankoo added that Amanda Thirsk, Prince Andrew's advisor, made a "very foolish decision" to advise him to give the interview, and it will "go down in the annals of history is one of the worst decisions ever".
In discussion with host Dawn Neesom, Heydel-Mankoo noted that although the interview "broke Prince Andrew" , it made Emily Maitlis "an international star".
Heydel-Mankoo told GB News: "Anybody with a Netflix account can actually relive this bizarre episode, and it recounts essentially how they got the interview, the lead up to it, and then the interview itself.
"But it doesn't go into the continuing fallout, which we still still see even to this day."
Prince Andrew's BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis has been recreated for a new Netflix film
Netflix
Heydel-Mankoo praised the "very slick production" of the film and hailed Gillian Anderson's "very convincing" performance as Maitlis, as well as Rufus Sewell in his "superb job" as the Duke of York.
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The royal commentator also highlighted the key difference between Scoop and The Crown, and how the film has made an effort to add a "disclaimer" to the title, to ensure viewers know it is a dramatic recreation of events.
He explained: "Importantly, the film says it's a dramatisation based inspired by real life events, an important disclaimer which The Crown didn't put in front of its episodes despite its historical inaccuracies and flights of fancy. So that's rather good.
"And it's based on the book Scoop, written by Sam MacAllister, who was the producer who secured the interview with Prince Andrew."
Prince Andrew was also spotted on the day the Netflix feature was released, which host Dawn Neesom said shows the Duke is thinking this latest development "isn't going to touch him".
Rafe Heydel-Mankoo says this will be a 'worrying moment' for Prince Andrew
GB News
Heyel-Mankoo responded: "I think this will be a very, very worrying moment for Prince Andrew. Of course, he's very keen to rehabilitate himself, and to have these constant reminders coming out is not helpful, to put it mildly.
"He's a very proud man. He doesn't want people to think that he's letting all of this get him down. And so this is, I would imagine, his way of asserting that I'm still going about my own duties. It's very much business as usual and biding my time."
When asked if it is out of "stupidity, arrogance, or a dangerous mix of the both", Heydel-Mankoo admitted there "may be some truth to that".
He added: "You might think that I couldn't possibly comment, but certainly it's a degree of being out of touch and living in another world and being interviewed by one of the heavy hitters at the BBC. They could have gone for someone who was a much lighter choice, but they didn't want to be seen to be evading the tough questions. But unfortunately he was very poorly briefed."
