Explainer
Key
takeaways from explosive claims made in biography of Prince Andrew
Andrew
Lownie’s book explores Duke of York’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, his
relationships and finances
Caroline
Davies
Wed 6 Aug
2025 15.42 CEST
A new
biography claims startling insight into the private lives of the Duke of York
and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. From relationships with women to Andrew’s
mysterious finances, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, by the
historian Andrew Lownie, also dives into the prince’s ill-advised friendship
with the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew’s representatives were
contacted for comment.
Claims
from the extracts serialised in the Daily Mail include:
1. Andrew
and Epstein
Lownie
claims that, although Andrew claimed to have met Epstein in 1999, “the truth is
he and his ex-wife Sarah had known the financier for almost a decade by then”.
Lownie writes Andrew “was easy prey for a rattlesnake like Epstein”, and adds:
“Epstein played Andrew. The prince was a useful idiot who gave him
respectability, access to political leaders and business opportunities. He
found him easy to exploit.” Lownie quotes the US businessman Steven Hoffenberg,
said to be Epstein’s “mentor” and a convicted fraudster, as saying Andrew was
his “Super Bowl trophy”.
2.
Secrets passed to foreign officials
Compromising
material on Andrew may allegedly have been passed to Israel’s Mossad secret
service, Saudi Arabian authorities and Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan intelligence
services by Epstein, according to the book. Lownie credits a documentary by the
Canadian journalist Ian Halperin, writing the claims were “confirmed” to
Halperin by “many in Andrew’s circle”. Although some of Epstein’s victims have
alleged the financier kept video recordings of high-profile friends having sex
with women, no proof has been made public to date. The claim Epstein boasted of
planning to sell Andrew’s secrets to the Mossad, first reported by the US Sun,
was made by Hoffenberg.
3. Was
Putin passed Andrew material?
Compromising
material on Andrew may also have ended up in Russian hands, Lownie claims. He
examines British intelligence fears, first reported by the Sunday Times, that
John Mark Dougan, a former deputy in Palm Beach county sheriff’s office, fled
to Russia with copies of files on the Epstein investigation and was in touch
with Pavel Borodin, a “mentor” of Putin. Lownie writes: “Asked what might be in
the files, Dougan said: ‘Lots of videos, but I wasn’t going to sit around and
watch them. Also lots of scanned documents.’” Dougan, a former US marine, has
previously been described by the BBC as spreading a number of disinformation
claims from Russia.
4. Harry,
Meghan and Andrew
According
to Lownie, Prince Harry gave Andrew a “bloody nose” during a heated argument at
a 2013 family gathering. This has been denied by Harry. Another allegation that
Andrew made disparaging remarks to Harry about how long his marriage to Meghan
Markle would last was also denied. A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan said: “I
can confirm Prince Harry and Prince Andrew have never had a physical fight, nor
did Prince Andrew ever make the comments he is alleged to have made about the
Duchess of Sussex to Prince Harry.” The spokesperson confirmed a legal letter
from Prince Harry’s counsel had been sent to the Mail.
In 2021,
after Meghan was accused of bullying staff, which she has denied, Lownie also
claims: “Buckingham Palace braced itself for historic complaints about Prince
Andrew’s bullying, profanities and impossible demands. Some say a report on
bullying accusations against Meghan Markle has never been released because it
would also raise questions about the behaviour of the queen’s second son.”
5.
Mysterious finances
With no
obvious source of income beyond his Royal Navy pension, family money he may
have inherited and handouts “first from the queen and now King Charles”, Lownie
questions how Andrew can afford the 30-room Royal Lodge, which he spent £7.5m
refurbishing and which has annual running costs of about £250,000.
He
revisits how £750,000 from Turkish millionaire Nebahat Isbilen ended up in
Andrew’s Coutts account, according to 2022 high court papers from an action
between Isbilen and her banker, Selman Turk, for misuse of funds. Andrew’s
office described it as a gift for Princess Beatrice’s wedding, but it was later
repaid. Andrew’s holiday to Tunisia with the convicted Libyan gun-smuggler,
Tarek Kaituni, who is also said to have presented Beatrice with an £18,000
solitaire diamond necklace for her 21st birthday, are among several allegedly
questionable relationships examined in the book.
6.
Personal life
There are
various eye-popping claims about Andrew’s sex life, as well as stories alleging
a vulgar sense of humour. One claim is that more than 40 women were brought to
his hotel room during a stay in Bangkok. “Hotel staff were used to foreigners
bringing in girls, but amazed that more than 10 a day were going to Andrew’s
room,” Lownie writes. As to claims over bullying, the book makes many,
including that of Andrew calling a palace staff member a “fucking imbecile” for
not referring to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother by her full title.
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