Channel 5 staged a ‘trial’ to determine if Prince Andrew is a liability to the Royal Family by considering allegations such as his spending habits and his rudeness to staff in front of a real judge and a jury.

The programme description read: “Two of the country’s most eminent barristers have been engaged to argue the case in front of a real judge and a real jury. Real expert witnesses will take the stand and face cross-examination. But it will be up to the jury of 12 randomly selected members of the public to judge whether Prince Andrew has been a liability to the House of Windsor.”

The trial begins in Shire Hall, Chelmsford’s old courthouse, where Bill Clegg KC and Jeremy Dein KC, go head to head. The Prosecution, led by Clegg, tries to convince a jury that Prince Andrew is a liability to the Royal Family, while the Defence, led by Dein, argued the opposite.

The prosecution highlights critique of the late Queen’s second son’s behaviour with palace staff as the defence remind the jury of Andrew’s military service.

The Prosecution then turns to Andrew’s most controversial associations including his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein the allegations of sexual misconduct made by Virginia Giuffre, where Prince Andrew has denied any wrongdoing.

Of the “bizarre” trial, The Telegraph writes: “The whole thing is mad as a box of frogs.”

They further explain: “The programme lasts two hours – two hours! – and is all conducted in an atmosphere of complete seriousness. The ‘my learned friend’ legalese isn’t thrilling, although Clegg is an old-school showman who knows how to deliver lines with a flourish: ‘To have one sex offender as a friend is a misfortune; to have two looks like carelessness,’ he says.”

Reporter, Anita Singh, comically adds: “The arbitrary nature of the evidence adds to the sense that this concept was thought up by someone coming off the back of a 48-hour bender.”

She concludes: “In the end, 10 out of 12 jurors find him guilty of being a liability. Whether you concur or not, I don’t think anyone would disagree with the opinion of one juror: at best, he says, Prince Andrew is an idiot.”

The programme, which aired on Tuesday September 2 on Channel 5, grants unprecedented access to jury deliberations, where 12 men and women weigh the evidence, the arguments, and the Prince’s history.