Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrest puts strain on British monarchy
Following the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, many are wondering whether his brother, King Charles III, will pardon the former prince.
What if former Prince Andrew befriended Jeffrey Epstein as part of an elaborate plan to make the King look better compared to Charles III?
That was the premise of the cold open of the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live UK,” the new British spinoff of the American sketch comedy show. The sketch, which aired on March 28, depicts a fictional secret meeting of MI5 agents in 1997 and stars Jack Shepp as Andrew, who is briefed on plans to improve Prince Charles’ image in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death.
“We deduced that the only way to make the future king more likable was to make him less likable to those around him,” one of the agents told Andrew. He was presented with a “29-year plan to slowly but surely make the entire country think you are king.”
Shep’s Andrew flipped through a document outlining the plan and asked, “Do you actually want me to do all of this? The part about befriending a notorious pedophile, before and after I’m convicted?”
The sketch spoofed Andrew’s controversial relationship with the late convicted sex offender, but Epstein’s name was never mentioned. Mr Andrew, who was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public life, said he regretted his friendship with Mr Epstein and denied wrongdoing.
“This all seems very risky. God, I’m sweating,” said Shep, who plays Andrew, a reference to the real Andrew, who claimed he was medically unable to sweat during an infamous 2019 BBC interview.
But the plan didn’t stop with Epstein. In the sketch, when Andrew, who plays Shep, points out that Prince William would be hard to dislike because he’s “very handsome,” one of his agents said, “We’re taking that into account.” Meanwhile, another agent revealed that Prince Harry is “marrying a woman who 98% of the British public would find impossible to have a normal conversation with.”
This was the second episode of Saturday Night Live UK, which first aired on March 21st. The series’ first cold open showed Prime Minister Keir Starmer (George Fouracres) nervous about calling President Donald Trump and wanting to avoid conflict with the US president. Trump shared part of the sketch with Truth Social magazine, but did not include the second half, in which Fouracres, who plays Starmer, says Trump wants to “start World War III.”
Jamie Dornan will host the March 28 episode of ‘SNL UK’, which will be available to watch on Peacock in the US. Riz Ahmed will next host the show on April 4, the same day Jack Black hosts the American version of Saturday Night Live.
