Prince Andrew's stuffed toys have become the subject of debate after Scoop, the new Netflix film that recreates his 2019 interview with Emily Maitlis was released.
There's no doubt the new film has raised more questions about the interview, including whether Emily Maitlis (played by Gillian Anderson) reallly did take her dog to work, and and just exactly what the deal is on Prince Andrew's stuffed toy collection.
Scoop gives us an insight into what went down before that famous Newsnight interview in 2019 (need a refresh? This is how you can watch Prince Andrew's 2019 interview). It explains how the interview came to fruition, as well as what the preparation was like in the build-up to one of the most shocking TV moments in recent years.
Scoop also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Prince Andrew's life, including his apparent love of cuddly toys. In an early scene in the film, we see the Duke of York criticising one of his maids (played by Kate Winslet’s daughter, Mia Threapleton) for not organising his soft toy collection properly. Now, this seems like a bizarre embellishment of the Duke's character initially, but on further inspection, it seems there may well be some truth in it.
Charlotte Briggs, a former Buckingham Palace maid told The Sun back in 2022 it was her responsibility to lay out the Duke of York's (72-strong) toy collection every morning, in order of size. This was in the mid-'90s, when the Duke would have been in his thirties. She told the publication, "As soon as I got the job, I was told about the teddies, and it was drilled into me how he wanted them.
"I even had a day’s training. It was so peculiar. After all, he was a grown man who had served in the Falklands. Each had to be carefully positioned. They were old-fashioned teddy bears – the Steiff ones – and nearly all of them had sailor suits on and hats. It took me half an hour to arrange them.
"Then at bedtime, I had to take all the teddies off and arrange them around the room. They each had a set place. We had to stack the smaller ones in an unused fireplace, again in size order, to make them look pretty. His two favourite bears sat on two thrones either side of the bed. The others would sit at the foot of the bed on the floor."
A lot to unpack there.
Paul Page, who was in the Royal Protection Command from 1998 to 2004, has also spoken about Andrew's collection in an ITV documentary (via The Sun). He claimed he's seen "about 50 or 60 stuffed toys" on the Prince's bed, as well as commenting, "There was a card, in a drawer and it was a picture of these bears all in situ. The reason for the laminated picture was if those bears weren’t put back in the right order by the maids, he would shout and scream."
Neither Buckingham Palace nor a spokesperson for Prince Andrew have issued a comment on this claim. However, Prince Andrew himself has confirmed, that yes, he does love a teddy. He told The Sun back in 2010 (via Vogue), admitting: “I’ve always collected teddy bears. Everywhere I went in the navy, I used to buy a little teddy bear, so I’ve got a collection from all over the world of one sort or another.”
