As she gears up for the release of her upcoming Netflix drama Scoop, actress Billie Piper has admitted she has “very strong” feelings about the Royal family.
The 41-year-old is playing the role of ex-Newsnight journalist Sam McAlister in the gritty new film, which lands on the streaming platform this Friday.
The drama will follow an inside account of how the women of Newsnight managed to secure Prince Andrew’s infamous 2019 interview, in which he spoke about the history of his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
While speaking to this week’s Radio Times, the Doctor Who star, who recently opened up about the difficulty of co-parenting with her ex Laurence Fox, admitted she has strong feelings about the royals, but doesn’t feel the need to share them with anyone.
The mum-of-three expressed: “I have very strong feelings towards them – but it’s not neccesarily helpful for me to put them into the world.
“It just contributes to this endless discourse that I can’t be bothered with,” Billie told the publication.
As well as Billie, the film will co-star Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis, Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew, Keeley Hawes as Amanda Thirsk, and Connor Swindells as Jae Donnelly.
Scoop is based on the memoir of BBC producer Sam, played by Billie, who managed to secure the landmark one on one interview.
The film’s official sypnosis reads: “Inspired by real events, SCOOP is the inside account of the tenacious journalism that landed an earthshattering interview – Prince Andrew’s infamous BBC Newsnight appearance.
“From the tension of producer Sam McAlister’s high stakes negotiations with Buckingham Palace, all the way to Emily Maitlis’ jaw-dropping, forensic showdown with the Prince, SCOOP takes us inside the story, with the women who would stop at nothing to get it. To get an interview this big, you have to be bold.”
The Duke of York’s disastrous interview led to him stepping down as a working royal, with the late Queen Elizabeth going on to strip him of his military titles and patronages.
Prince Andrew, who made a rare appearance on Easter Sunday, still lives at Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate, the home he has inhabited for over 20 years after signing a 75-year lease on the property and agreeing to fund its upkeep.
Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times – out now.