All you need to know about Amanda Thirsk, Keeley Hawes’ vital character in Scoop

The day is finally here: Scoop has dropped on Netflix. I have been gagging to watch this film since I saw the cast: Gillian Anderson and Billie ‘God’ Piper doing a retelling of the Prince Andrew Newsnight car crash? Inject it, baby. Another iconic cast member is of course Keeley Hawes, who is amazing in everything she ever gets cast in (especially when she voiced Lara Croft in the games for years, mind you), and in Scoop she plays a real life character who is pivotal in the events that went down. Keeley Hawes plays Amanda Thirsk in Scoop, so here’s all you need to know about who Amanda is irl.

Who is Amanda Thirsk?

Amanda Thirsk worked for Buckingham Palace, specifically as Prince Andrew’s private secretary. She was employed from 2004 to 2020, and following the wake of everything that went down with Newsnight she reached a settlement with the Palace to terminate her contract.

Sky News has reported that since leaving her role with Prince Andrew, former banker Amanda Thirsk now works high up in JD, an e-commerce group and one of the biggest in China.

On her role as Amanda Thirsk in Scoop and who she really is, Keeley Hawes said in the press notes for the Netflix film:

“She was pivotal in the decision that Prince Andrew should do this interview with Newsnight, And so we meet her at a very early stage where she goes and agrees to have a meeting with Sam McAlister.

“The wheels start turning and Amanda Thirsk thinks that this could be a really good idea in terms of PR for Prince Andrew.

“I think her intentions were good and very honest. She was a great friend of his and she obviously thought he was a great person. She wanted everybody to see Prince Andrew the way that she saw him and thought that would be a really positive thing. Unfortunately, as we now know, it was not to be.”

For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Quiz: Only a royal expert can guess where all the Royal Family actually went to uni

• Kate has admitted she edited it, so here are all the dodgy editing errors in *that* photo

• Edited photos and international scandal: A full timeline of the weird Kate Middleton picture