Amazon Prime Video’s A Very Royal Scandal was filmed at Wilton House, Wiltshire, and West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, the University of Greenwich and Carlton House Terrace, London, and High Canons, Hertfordshire.
Also known as A Very English Scandal, the Prince Andrew Newsnight interview drama premiered on Amazon Prime on 19th September 2024.
The streamer’s take on this incident in the Epstein scandal follows Prince Andrew (Michael Sheen) and Emily Maitlis (Ruth Wilson) in the run-up to the 2019 interview.
In the Amazon MGM Studios drama, we catch the Duke of York in talks with his secretary, Amanda Thirsk (Joanna Scanlan) and hiding from the paparazzi with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson (Claire Rushbrook) and daughters Princess Beatrice (Honor Swinton Byrne) and Princess Eugenie (Sofia Oxenham), as the scandal hits the headlines and he agrees to meet with the BBC journalist.
And then, of course, we catch the fall-out. Expect some of your favourite British filming locations in A Very Royal Scandal as Buckingham Palace, Royal Lodge and Windsor Great Park along the way.
A Very Royal Scandal Filming Locations
Many of A Very Royal Scandal’s filming locations like West Wycombe Park, High Canons House, Greenwich Old Royal Naval College and Wilton House are regular features in royal dramas like The Crown.
A Very Royal Scandal Locations
Buckingham Palace
Wilton House. Henry Kellner, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Buckingham Palace filming locations in A Very Royal Scandal (also titled A Very English Scandal) are Wilton House and the University of Greenwich’s Queen Anne Building. These location have each appeared onscreen as the Queen’s London residence that you might have recognised them.
Here’s where the 3-part drama’s Buckingham Palace scenes were filmed, and where you might have spotted the filming locations previously.
Buckingham Palace State Rooms
The Buckingham Palace state room where Emily Maitlis interviews Prince Andrew is the Double Cube Room at Wilton House.
In A Very English Scandal, this is where Maitlis and Andrew discuss the Ghislaine Maxwell connection and visits to Epstein’s homes in New York and Palm Beach.
Situated near Salisbury, Wilton House is a Palladian home designed by the celebrated Inigo Jones and John Webb in the 17th Century, and later elaborated on by James Wyatt.
But it’s the 17th Century rooms we’re interested in today, in particular the State Apartments. Their centrepieces are the Single and Double Cube Rooms, which have become go-to palace locations.
They frequently appear in the likes of The Crown, Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgeton Story. Wilton House also appeared in Netflix’s Scoop earlier in 2024, which also recounted Prince Andrew’s fateful interview around the Epstein scandal.
Buckingham Palace Courtyard
Queen Anne Court, Royal Naval College. Paul Wilkinson, CC BY 2.0
A Very Royal Scandal’s Buckingham Palace courtyard filming location is the Queen Anne Courtyard in Greenwich Old Royal Naval College. In the 2024 Amazon series, this is where Emily Maitlis is seen rushing to arrive for her interview with the Duke of York.
It also appears when Prince Andrew talks with the Queen’s special advisors as they cross the courtyard, with guards visible at either side of the gates.
In reality, the courtyard is a Grade I-listed building that’s now part of the University of Greenwich.
Designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor and completed in 1749, it’s constructed from Portland Stone – the same stone used for Buckingham Palace’s frontage. As a result of this and its elegant arches, it appears in many a London-set film and series.
You can catch it in The Crown Season 1, before it was replicated on a backlot, with other areas of Greenwich appearing later in the show’s run.
Epstein’s Mansion
Epstein’s house location in A Very Royal Scandal is West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire.
This appears in the scene where Prince Andrew goes to stay with Geoffrey Epstein and is later photographed walking through Central Park.
West Wycombe Park was also The Crown’s Bois de Boulogne filming location throughout the Netflix show’s run.
Also known as Villa Windsor, it’s home to the abdicated Edward VIII and his wife, Wallis Simpson.
Royal Lodge
Fergie and Andrew’s weekend break filming location is High Canons House in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
And look out for the library at High Canons House later, when Andrew relays the Queen’s opinions to his family.
High Canons House was previously used for as an interior location for Clarence House in The Crown, and as the Warlock’s house in Good Omens, another Michael Sheen series for Amazon.
Meanwhile, the real Royal Lodge sits in Windsor Great Park and has become the source of controversy with Prince Andrew’s tenancy under question.
Windsor Great Park
A Very Royal Scandal’s Windsor Great Park filming location is also at High Canons House.
Prince Andrew is seen walking through the grounds of High Canons House as he considers the backlash from his 2019 Newsnight interview.
Carlton House Terrace
Carlton House Terrace. The Mall Terrace behind nos. 1-9 Carlton House Terrace by Stuart Taylor, CC BY-SA 2.0
Emily Maitlis gets the go-ahead for the interview at the steps leading from Carlton House Terrace to the Mall, in St James’s. Incidentally, she’s standing just beside the Duke of York Column in this scene.
A Very Royal Scandal’s central London filming location is just around the corner from the real Buckingham Palace.
If you walk down these steps, you can see the palace at the end of the tree-lined boulevard.