2 min read

THE SIEGE AT ROYAL LODGE

Prince Andrew

Listening to a radio report this morning whilst in the shower, I found (as usual) my hyperactive imagination running ahead of my dormant body.

Talk of Prince Andrew having his security detail axed as King Charles attempts to downsize his brother, the notoriously sweat resistant Duke of York from the 30 room Royal Lodge to Frogmore Cottage, which, to me, always sounded like something out of Beatrix Potter inspired a vivid and cinematic scene in my head.

Visions of Prince Andrew barricading himself inside the lodge came to mind as I further imagined him armed to the teeth and threatening to shoot anyone within close range as he prepares to end his disgraced time on earth in a blaze of gunfire. It is a scene that recalls the films of Sam Peckinpah but on an English Royal estate and now I'm thinking of a cross between 'The Wild Bunch' and Lindsay Anderson's 'If' meets 'The Crown'.

Pike Bishop (William Holden) in 'The Wild Bunch' (1969)

Perhaps if enough money was put on the table Netflix's 'The Crown' could return for a final, final series but now shot in documentary-style real time as the historical storylines are currently aligned in present time - quite literally, history in the making. I think the ratings for this particular episode 'The Madness of Prince Andrew' could break records and humiliate Harry and Meghan further after their 'Live to Lead' series was withdrawn after it flopped spectacularly in the U.S. due to disinterested audiences.

Or perhaps, this one should be consigned to my failed projects file, though my inner 'Max Biallystock' doesn't think so.

"It's The Wild Bunch meets The Crown."