Andrew Lownie author of ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’ says the royal family had their ‘heads in the sand’ about Andrew’s scandals

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When King Charles announced that his brother Andrew would be stripped of his royal titles and pushed out of his plush home at Royal Lodge because of his associations with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, it marked an incredible fall from grace.  

Well known as Queen Elizabeth’s favorite son, the former prince has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But the repercussions of his behavior continue. On Monday, Dec. 1, by the King’s directive, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s name was “erased” from the prestigious Order of the Garter and Royal Victorian Order Honors.  

But will this erase the stain on the royal family? USA TODAY spoke to Andrew Lownie, a historian and author of the new book “Entitled: The Rise and Fall of The House of York,” to find out what’s next for the royal family. 

The Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed, requiring the Department of Justice to release documents in the Epstein case by December 19th. What do you expect might be revealed about the former prince?  

Andrew Lownie: Well, we don’t know. I understand there is a lot of material on him. I think there’s a danger that a lot of material won’t be released. We’ve already seen quite a few revelations … particularly the length of his association with Epstein.  

We have to be slightly cautious about him leaving Royal Lodge. He’s been given a year to get out. He’s basically digging his heels in to say that he wants to have a pretty large house on the Sandringham estate. He wants to have servants, a driver, a gardener, a housekeeper. So it’s not going to be the fall from grace that everyone’s assumed. He’s making the point that he’s got a cast-iron lease, and therefore, he needs to be compensated. 

So what’s been said in public and actually what’s happening in private are two very different things.  

In your book, you detail that Andrew was photographed with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach in February of 2000. He also played golf with Trump. What do you think the relationship was between the two men, and how do you think Andrew’s fall could ultimately impact the president?  

Well, the relationship is good. I mean, they have three common interests: women, golf and making money. And Andrew was actually deputized to take care of Trump when he came on a previous state visit. Trump claims now he doesn’t know Andrew is, but there’s plenty of evidence to show they were very close.  

Andrew was the Queen’s favorite son. In your book, you cite reporting that in January 2015, three officials put their concerns about him in writing to the Queen. Do you think those concerns ever really reached the Queen, or do you think she was knowingly protecting her son?  

I think the concerns did reach the Queen. They were, of course, made to the private secretary at that time, and he kind of told them, actually, there’s no point making these complaints because she’s not interested. She just had this complete blind spot.   

And so you think the Queen knew the details about Epstein well before she died and still protected Andrew?

Yes, I have no doubt. The Queen was very well informed. The Queen’s household is filled — or the King’s household is filled — with former intelligence officials. The private secretary had been a former military intelligence officer. There are good reasons why they pick these people. They’re discreet, and they will know a lot of the secrets.  

King Charles formally stripped the titles from his brother, erased his name from prestigious royal honors. Why do you think it took Charles so long to act? 

You’re talking about the honors that have been taken away from him, [but] they were actually often given to him after the scandal broke and nothing was done. Both the Queen and Charles have kind of got the heads in the sand that the belief is that the problem will go away, the news agenda will move on. 

William has seen the reputational damage that’s been done and that he needs to get ahead of the story. And that’s why just over a month ago, they realized public opinion was demanding something to happen. And it does tie into Trump. There is a sense that the elites have operated in their own interest for too long, and people in power need to be held to account.  

In your book, you write about how there have been tensions between Prince William, Prince Harry and their uncle. What do you think the boys knew about Andrew, Epstein and Virginia Giuffre?  

I think certainly William knows a lot. As the heir to the throne, he would’ve been briefed. I’ve seen the documents of briefings … so I don’t think there’s any doubt that they were aware of what was going on. We can see what William’s feelings are towards his uncle just from the Duchess of Kent’s funeral. 

There’s always the hope that Prince William and Harry will reunite. Do you think there’s any chance that having this common shared enemy in Andrew might somehow bring the boys back together?  

I don’t think anything’s going to bring them back together. They’re both very stubborn and a lot of things have been said that can’t be unsaid.  

The scandal has also swept up Sarah Ferguson. You detail how he racked up millions in debt, and suggest that Andrew or the Queen paid those debts off. How much taxpayer money do you think has been spent supporting Andrew and Fergie’s lifestyle over the years?  

The payments for Sarah’s debts and the payment to Guiffre came out of private funds. So I don’t think that was taxpayers’ money. But I think over the years, it’d been difficult to quantify what has been spent on their security, on taking jets when he could have gone on commercial flights, taking helicopters when he could have gone by car.  

This is why there needs to be more transparency about royal finances. We need to know what the costs [are]. But I think the palace realizes it would [lead to] a revolt because there is a concern that the royals are not providing value for the money. Some, like Princess Anne, work extremely hard. Others are not, and that is affecting their popularity.  

Andrew no longer has palace protection. What does that mean? Can he actually be investigated, charged, or even imprisoned?  

He has been cut loose because they’re worried that charges might be brought against him. They don’t want the reputational damage. He was kind of this infected limb that was affecting the rest of the body.  

There are two grounds on which he could be charged: One is on the sexual trafficking, which was looked at three times, and the Metropolitan police thought there was nothing to be seen there. But I think there is a strong case being made … that this needs to be looked at again.  

There’s also the financial misdemeanors. Emails have been found that he tried to get information on Guiffre and smear her. That is an offense under the misconduct in public office, with life imprisonment as one of the penalties.  

So I think he may well be charged. I don’t think he’s ever going to spend any time in prison. I think, rather like Jaun Carlos of Spain [the former King who fled to Abu Dhabi following corruption allegations], he will make a midnight flight to the Middle East. And there is no extradition treaty between Bahrain and Britain.  

It does seem that if he were to flee the country, it would be an admission of guilt. And he has always denied any wrongdoing.  

We’ve got to say he denies the allegations, but the fact is he’s not cooperated with any of the victims’ lawyers or law enforcement agencies for the last 15 years.  

Do you think that the palace can recover? Can Prince William start his reign with a clean slate?  

Yes. I think as long as they deal with this problem, cut Andrew loose and the public is satisfied that justice is being served. William, Kate and the young family are very popular. I think people are very much in step with what they want to do, which is a much more focused monarchy [working] on a few good deeds, rather [than more] pomp and ceremony.  

We want the monarchy. We’ve seen how effective it can be in bringing the nation together, the soft power, for example, when Donald Trump was over. There’s broad support for the monarchy, but it does need to reform. Ironically, Andrew may have been the person to bring that change.