Why you should watch the musical parody of Prince Andrew for a royal laugh to end the year

Air Miles Andy was the old nickname for Prince Andrew, the grand old Duke of York (he's only 62, actually). He must now look back fondly on that label, despite it being an insult.

For now the man is to have a musical parody of his life broadcast on TV. This may sound appealing, initially. How important do you have to be to have a musical created of your life?

Alas, this musical is fuelled by a great burning desire to ridicule the fallen Prince Andrew. Once seen, allegedly, as just a lazy, often rude, 'maybe favourite' third child of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Now seen as a disgraced duke who - at best - made ill-formed friendships with convicted sexual offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

In case you've been living on Mars, like Elon Musk does in his mind, here's a quick recap on Andrew's current situation.

The Duke of York paid a financial settlement in March 2022 to his accuser Virginia Giuffre - formally ending a civil case brought against him in the US.

Ms Giuffe accused Andrew of sexually abusing her three times as she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell for the rich and famous.

The out-of-court settlement accepted no liability and Prince Andrew has always strongly rejected claims of wrongdoing.

But the prince agreed to pay an undisclosed amount - rumoured to be close to £12 million - to Ms Giuffre and to her charity for victims' rights.

He also said he 'never intended to malign Ms Giuffre's character' and he recognised she had 'suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks'.

The duke also pledged to 'demonstrate his regret for his association' with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In the wake of the claims, Prince Andrew lost military titles and royal patronages as well as the use of the title His Royal Highness. His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and his children Beatrice and Eugenie appear to support him.

In his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, the prince said he had 'no recollection of ever meeting this lady [Giuffre], none whatsoever' when asked about the allegations made against him. He adamantly denied all the accusations and firmly claimed that he didn't remember meeting Giuffre, even though his first encounter with her was photographed.

Prince Andrew: The Musical is an upcoming British made-for-television biographical musical comedy film written by and starring Kieran Hodgson. The musical is a 'satirical send-up' of the life of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and covers key events during his life, including his relationships, controversies, and his infamous 2019 interview with journalist Emily Maitlis.

The musical will air on Channel 4 on Thursday, December 29 and also stars Emma Sidi as Maitlis, Munya Chawawa as Andrew's brother King Charles III and Harry Enfield as former Prime Minister Tony Blair. It's part of the network's newly commissioned programmes to mark its 40th anniversary and was first announced in August 2022 at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

"I can’t believe I said it, that thing about the sweat. Although you’d rather have a prince who’s dry than one who’s soaking wet," sings the prince (actor playing the prince) in the show’s opening number 'I Nailed It'.

This promises to be the kind of experimental TV material that we've been sadly lacking the last few years as we've been force-fed repeats and ever-increasingly awful gameshow concepts.

Whether it is as funny as we hope, we shall see. The musical has received mixed reviews. It's worth a try, we've been starved of people taking risks in TV content. We shall have to sample this 'tasteless', as some have described it, amble into royal outcast territory.