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Prince Andrew to be lampooned in satirical musical

Members of Prince Andrew's security detail have reportedly been told their services will not be needed from November.

Members of Prince Andrew's security detail have reportedly been told their services will not be needed from November. Photo: AAP

Prince Andrew will be the subject of a satirical TV musical in the latest season of shows from British broadcaster Channel 4.

The Queen’s second son stood down from royal duties after a disastrous interview in November 2019 discussing his ties with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a special BBC Newsnight program.

Channel 4 said the interview, widely regarded as a public relations catastrophe for the Duke of York, would be “reimagined” as part of the musical.

The announcement came as it emerged the prince was again lobbying his mother for help to find a way to return to royal life.

It is the second theatrical outing for the interview, after it emerged in July that it would also be turned into a film. To be called Scoop, the movie will tell the story of how Newsnight producers secured and pulled off the 2019 interview.

Shooting begins on Scoop in November.

After the TV broadcast aired, critics tore into Andrew for appearing to show no empathy for the abused victims of Epstein, who killed himself in prison in August 2019.

Comedian Kieran Hodgson will lead a cast of comics in Prince Andrew: The Musical, a one-hour program described as a “satirical send-up of the life and times” of the Duke of York set to a musical score.

The show is part of a 40-year anniversary season of shows called Truth or Dare for Britain’s fourth terrestrial TV broadcaster, which launched in 1982.

It has not yet been announced exactly when it will air.

“It will pile more embarrassment on Andrew,” royal commentator Robert Jobson told Britain’s Sun newspaper of the musical.

“His public life is already over. This almost feels like kicking a dog when it’s down.”

But Channel 4 commissioning editor Cimran Shah said: “We shy away from nothing.”

Andrew has been a feature in British headlines for years due to his marriage and divorce with Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson. Songs in the upcoming musical will include My Profiterole, about how Andrew wooed the Duchess of York with the cream-filled treats.

But he has tried to stay out of the public spotlight after reaching a multimillion-pound settlement earlier this year with Virginia Giuffre, who filed a US lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault when she was 17.

However, the prince recently spent three days at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where he saw the Queen. According to The Sun, he again asked her to help find him a position.

“He is a 62-year-old man and knows that he can’t spend the rest of his days ­sitting around at Royal Lodge in Windsor, walking his dogs and riding horses,” a friend told the publication.

“He’s thinking about what he can do. He has had discussions with the Queen about what he can do with his life.”

Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles in January and told he can no longer use the title “his royal highness”.

In June, the duke reportedly asked the Queen for his titles to be reinstated. That was swiftly rejected after an intervention from heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his eldest son, Prince William.

But a source said Andrew remained keen to find a suitable position within the monarchy now that his civil case with Australia-based Ms Giuffre has been resolved.

“He knows he let his mother down badly but he hasn’t been convicted of a crime. He wants to try to establish a route back,” the source said.

-with AAP

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