prince andrew musical

Erm, a horrifying TV musical about the Prince Andrew scandal is on the way

Munya Chawawa and Drag Race’s Baga Chipz are both in it


In today’s horrifying news update, we regret to inform you that there’s a Channel 4 musical on the way about Prince Andrew’s car crash Newsnight interview, where he told the BBC he couldn’t have had sex with a teenage girl at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house in 2001, as accused, because he’d been at a child’s party at Pizza Express in Woking.

Starring Kieran Hodgson as Prince Andrew, Munya Chawawa as King Charles, Jenny Bede as Andrew’s wife Sarah Ferguson, Emma Sidi as news reporter Emily Maitlis, Harry Enfield as Tony Blair and Drag Race’s Baga Chipz as Margaret Thatcher, Prince Andrew: The Musical will focus on the “key events, relationships and controversies of Andrew’s life”.

But the big question here is, why?

prince andrew musical

Making a, literal, song and dance about abuse accusations is undeniably insensitive. And, with songs like ‘I Nailed It’, ‘Will You Be My Ex Wife’ and ‘Obey’ slated to appear in the hour-long extravaganza, it’s doubtful Prince Andrew: The Musical will be anything but severely on the nose. So, what is actually the point?

Well, the creator claims it makes sense:

“The story of Prince Andrew is tragedy and farce rolled into one, so why not add ‘musical’ for good measure?” Kieran Hodgson said. “Some might find the prospect of writing and performing their first TV musical a tad daunting. Not me. I found it completely terrifying. But we’ve pulled out all the stops, put every penny on screen and let rip at an institution that would perhaps prefer us to forget about all this. Also, I’m on a trampoline for a bit.” Unhinged.

prince andrew musical

Prince Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, alleged that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times between 2001 and 2002 when she was only 17 years old, allegations he has repeatedly denied. Giuffre claimed the abuse happened in London and New York, as well as on Jeffrey Epstein’s private Carribbean island.

In February, it was announced that Prince Andrew wouldn’t have to give evidence in the sexual assault trial against him as he’d paid a settlement fee to Giuffre, reportedly estimated at around £12million. So, very little evidence from either side was ever made public.

While the creators of Prince Andrew: The Musical might think they’re holding the Royals to account, all they’re really doing is making it okay to joke about alleged abuse. Prince Andrew: The Musical minimises the entire scandal down into a palatable punch line that simply didn’t need to get made.

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