the fall of the house of Windsor

British series that draw on reality also tackle national tragedies (Justice) that the workers are in conflict (Sherwood), frightening cases (The fifth commandment) these chimerical legal crusades (Mr. Bates v. Post Office), the rise of fascism (Without an appointment) than political crises (This England). Note that we cited recent series, but we were able to extract titles and titles belonging to previous decades.

This introduction serves to reflect on A real scandal (2024), third part of a fruitful saga which we consider improvised, extended in view of the excellent results of the previous parts. In any case, it is the production company Blueprint which is at the origin of this triptych, for the moment, devoted to the dramatization of delicate affairs which affect both the political class and the aristocracy and, now , the royal family.

It all started with A very English scandal (2018), mini-series written by the totemic screenwriter Russell T. Davies and directed by the no less prestigious (in fact perhaps more) Stephen Frears. It told us how a promising MP, Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant) tried to get rid of his lover, Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw), in order to preserve his career.

Three years later, following the same production pattern and also for the BBC, was born A very British scandal (2021). Here, the scripts were written by one of Agatha Christie’s most prolific adapters, Sarah Phelps, and were directed by Norwegian Anne Sewitski.

The argument? The resounding and spicy divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, played by Claire Foy and Paul Bettany, an aristocratic couple who became fodder for the tabloids thanks to an affair that lacked nothing: falsification of documents, theft, violence, consumption drugs, high-tension photographs, secret recordings and bribes.

Once the political class was scrutinized and the shame of a nobility eaten by moths was exposed, there remained, alas, only the Windsors. The same production company, this time in collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios, remains faithful to its infallible strategy (besides, In Spain you can watch the series on Max, don’t ask me why). Behind the project is an experienced screenwriter like Jeremy Brock (The last king of Scotland), a director no less experienced than Julian Jarrold (Suitable adult) and two stars like Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson.

And what is the purpose of this new episode of the dark side of British history? Well, neither more nor less than the interview that Prince Andrew (Michael Sheen) gave to BBC journalist and Newsnight host Emily Maitlis (Ruth Wilson) to respond to the accusations made by Virginia Giuffre, who stated that the Duke of York had sex with her when she was underage. An abuse that occurred thanks to the mediation of the financial magnate and personal friend of the prince, Jeffrey Epstein, convicted of numerous crimes, including that of having designed a child trafficking network.

Throughout its three chapters, the context and consequences of the interview are recounted, a real Gordian knot in history, which ended up costing the third of Queen Elizabeth II’s four children his privileges. Beyond the interest of what is told, facts which were also addressed by the feature film The great exclusivity (Philippe Martin, 2024), The important thing lies in certain writing and directing decisions.

An interview which is offered to us divided into three parts – the recording, the subsequent editing and its broadcast – in a perfect example of both the dosage of information and the use of ellipsis, without forgetting some formal decisions like a striking, well-done punch. used an axis break which signals a change in the dramatic basis of the sequence in question.

In a clearly uneven story, in which Prince Andrew is given the role of a clumsy villain, Jeremy Brock is careful not to make Emily Maitlis an impeccable heroine, even if the mini-series is based on one of his books . Firstly, there is an underlying problem in A real scandal it has to do with mother-child relationships and abandonment.

While Elizabeth II is a ghost who only appears once (and blurry, we never see her) and calls her son to account for his misdeeds; Maitlis lives for her career and completely neglects the education of her only child.

His final decision, once the Windsor storm has passed, will concern the repair of this detachment, very similar to that experienced by the Duke of York. In fact, in the series, it is clear that his professional enterprise has the sole objective of personal success: nothing matters, least of all the victim, except obtaining recognition.

Note also that if, on the one hand, punctual and ephemeral delays flashbacks They certify the guilt of a prince who was not convicted since there was a prior agreement with the complainant – the series assumes that what Verónica Giuffre says is true – they also strive not to represent Andrew in one piece. We are talking about a naive and stubborn guy, full of himself (he fought in the Falklands for some reason) and, at the same time, folkloric, devoted to his daughters and ex-wife.

Look for example at how Julian Jarrold films the family breakup at the start of the second episode. A general shot in which the Duke and Sara Ferguson (Claire Rushbrook) appear located one at each end, separated by the vertical line which constitutes the body of their daughter Beatriz (Honor Swinton Byrne), who has just entered the room (photo from the bottom).

From there, a succession of heterogeneous close-ups of the three characters certify that, as Andrew himself says, paraphrasing his great-grandfather George VI, “the royal family is not a family”. The prince is helpless because his brother Charles withdraws his support and his mother, whom he adores, is limited by her position (or so he believes).

Fergie watches her ex name everyone she loves. She is not on this list. Beatriz approaches him, trying to show him support, telling him to listen to his people. Jarrold insists on the cutting of shots-counter-shots. Andrew will obey. The final result will not serve, precisely, to reunite the family, which this sequence already anticipated.

East It’s a mini-series in which everything is very measuredso much so that the clocks, protagonists at the beginning of each episode, become a polysemous object that helps to explain and understand the proposition from different angles. We are told of a fight against time, of the need to carry out the interview as soon as possible to prevent the guardians of the Royal Household, represented by two stern and industrious civil servants, from canceling the engagement.

It is therefore no coincidence that a Allegro Vivace mastered the editing and told us of the urgency with which Maitlis and the rest of the BBC team had to prepare for the meeting. Yes, the series also functions as a wonderful depiction of journalistic and television interiorities.

However, this is not the most relevant question regarding time. The most curious thing here concerns your perception. When at the beginning of the series, the journalist, arriving hastily and in a state of nervous breakdown at Buckingham Palace, comes across the concierge who is to receive her, time fractures. She is afraid of arriving late, behaves awkwardly and seems agitated. The concierge, with the speed of a lazy person suffering from rheumatism, tells him what to do, confiscates his cell phone and takes forever to allow him to pass.

This initial incident serves as a gateway to another dimension. In fact, we are shown Maitlis’ arrival at the palace twice. One from his point of view, and the other, in the second chapter, from the point of view of the “institution”. The editing is different, accelerated in the first case, much calmer in the second.

This depiction of the almost opposite way of perceiving time that ordinary citizens and royalty have also tells us how Andrew faces the world in a way that has nothing to do with the worldview of his fellow citizens, except those close to him. a handful of billionaires and a dozen aristocrats who, if they had power, would restore the right of residence.

He public disaster of the prince This happens because, precisely, he has a distorted vision of the world, distorted by all those who protect him from the truth, as if he were a deified filmmaker to whom none of his collaborators tell him that what he films is a disaster. When that bubble of impunityswollen by the environment, receives a injection of reality and explodes like an excrement bomb from which we can no longer clean the trace.

And this, which manifests itself in numerous ways throughout the three episodes, is observed very clearly in the way in which time is perceived. Just as it happened to the Dowager Countess of Grantham (bow here to the great Maggie Smith), who did not know what a weekend was, the Duke of York is part of that elite who lived on Sunday all his life. And it marks.