Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk is played by Keeley Hawes in Netflix’s new drama Scoop – here the Mirror takes a look at her life and how pivotal she was in convincing the Duke to take part in his disastrous Newsnight interview
Although she was largely blamed for persuading Prince Andrew to agree to the Newsnight interview that ended his royal career, his top aide Amanda Thirsk was known to be the epitome of professionalism.
Netflix ’s new film Scoop takes an indepth look behind the scenes of the infamous Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew and the women who managed to ensure the programme was aired after months of tough negotiating. As well as the BBC team behind the show, the Duke of York’s private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, played a crucial role.
After the interview was aired and Andrew sealed his fate with his comments about not regretting his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his inability to sweat and his trip to Pizza Express with daughter Princess Beatrice, his right hand woman Amanda Thirsk was widely lambasted for convincing him to agree to it in the first place. Here we take a look at who Amanda, played by Keeley Hawes in Scoop, is and what her role was in the lead up to the meeting.
Amanda Thirsk is a 58 year old mother of three who studied at Cambridge University before going into a successful career in banking. She began working for the royal household in 2004. In 2011 Prince Andrew was forced to step down from his role as UK trade envoy following controversy surrounding Epstein. Amanda became his private secretary in 2012 and was pivotal in carving out a new role for him that benefited the UK economy. She was thought to be so close to him that her office was just metres away from his bedroom at Buckingham Palace.
In October 2018, Andrew’s office sent an email to Sam McAlister, a producer on Newsnight, who booked exclusive interviews for the BBC programme. She was offered the opportunity to interview the Duke about his charitable work with entrepreneurs – something Sam labelled a “puff piece” because difficult questions would not be allowed. She declined but continued to talk to his office via emails and meetings for a whole year after.
In May 2019 Sam went to the Palace for a meeting with Amanda to try and convince her Andrew should discuss the hot topics of the time – Brexit, Harry and Meghan. Amanda refused to allow any questions on Epstein.
However, shortly afterwards Epstein was arrested and then found dead and things had become harder for Andrew because of his connections with the sex offender. Sam continued to keep communication with Amanda open, calling it “the thin line between professionalism and harassment” and was eventually invited to meet her at the Palace with Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis, played by Gillian Anderson in Scoop, and Princess Beatrice. After the meeting a date was agreed for the interview.
It was reported by ITV that Amanda had hoped the interview would provide, “a clear and unambiguous denial from the duke that he’d known anything about Jeffrey Epstein’s activities.”
Following the global outrage over his answers to Emily Maitlis’ questions, Prince Andrew stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and was forced to move his office from the Palace. Amanda was told she would have to leave her role as his private secretary. Producer Sam said she wanted to contact her to see if she was okay but it wouldn’t have been advisable. She wrote: “As for Amanda Thirsk, after some prevarication, she lost her job. I really felt for her. In all of our dealings she had been the epitome of professional.”
However, the former aide was given a job as the boss of Andrew’s Dragon’s Den style business venture, Pitch@Palace, which supported entrepreneurs and start-up companies. That wasn’t to last though as the controversy surrounding Andrew’s comments and association with Epstein meant corporate partners of the company, such as Barclays and KPMG ended their relationship with Pitch and most of its directors quit. Shortly after she was said to have agreed a five-figure legal settlement with Buckingham Palace.
These days Amanda is thought to be working in a senior business development role for Chinese online retail giant JD.com, where she’s been for the most part since leaving Andrew’s employment. According to Sky News she is currently involved in a potential takeover bid for London-listed retailer Currys.
Scoop airs on Netflix from April 5.
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