A drag queen Margaret Thatcher and hideous wigs make Prince Andrew: The Musical a riot of ridicule

Let’s start with the acknowledgement that Prince Andrew: The Musical is in terrible taste. Of course it is. It’s a musical about Prince Andrew. I can’t begin to fathom the process by which people sat down and thought, ‘You know what we should do with Prince Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein? Set it to music. And cast a drag queen called Baga Chipz as Margaret Thatcher.’

I think we can all agree that the world did not need this programme. And yet if you watch it, the sheer silliness of it may just win you over. That, and the strength of the lyrics and music written by Kieran Hodgson, who also stars as Andrew. During lockdown, Hodgson went viral on social media with his very funny, two-minute send-ups of The Crown (he played every character). He is a genuine talent, and the songs here are far better than they have any right to be.

The Epstein story is grim and yet the Newsnight interview was unintentionally comical in both its details (the inability to sweat, the Woking branch of Pizza Express) and dim bulb Andy’s rock solid belief that it had all gone brilliantly. The musical leans into the farcical elements. No one remotely attempts to look or sound like the people they’re playing. Charles is played by a black comedian, Munya Chawawa. Harry Enfield is Tony Blair. As Andrew, Hodgson has a rubbish wig. They all look completely stupid, on purpose.

The script stays away from anything legally tricky (Virginia Giuffre, say). There is nobody playing Ghislaine Maxwell. Instead, after a rousing opening number which also features Emily Maitlis and her ego (“His excuses are a joke and yet I’m stifling my laughter/‘cause with TV gold like this, I know I’m guaranteed a Bafta”) we go back in time. There’s a soaring romantic number involving Andrew and Fergie, plus recaps of his heyday as a Falklands hero and of Blair offering him the role of trade envoy.

Andrew’s lack of self-awareness is the show’s running joke. His song about the Newsnight debacle is called I Nailed It. He considers himself to be brilliant, talented, and the handsome one in the family. The musical suggests that he’s a useful idiot, making the other family members look good by comparison; one song is titled You’re Always Going To Need An Andrew.

It’s irreverent, a television oddity, and plenty of people will hate it. But it’s no more ridiculous than the man himself.