A thorough scandal

Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie

Pages by Peter

by Peter Newman, 
St Duthac Book and Arts Festival Commitee

Andrew Lownie is a fascinating author. On the face of it, the owner of a successful literary agency, a former President of the Cambridge Union and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Historians could not appear more like an establishment insider.


And yet: Lownie has been drawn into controversy on numerous occasions as he seeks to shine a light on the way that the British system silences and restricts access to the historical record for its own ends. 


This was most apparent in his last book, The Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, a work which saw the author embroiled in a hugely costly legal battle with the University of Southampton and Lownie himself forced into investing tens of thousands of pounds to gain access to records held by that institution to gain sight of documents purchased with tax payer funds.


Having spent all his savings, and having had to use crowdfunding as a way of securing the partial victory he secured from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to force the Cabinet Office and university to relinquish the papers, one might expect him to keep a low profile for his next project.

Instead, he has chosen to dive head first into that most contemporaneous of controversial members of the Royal Family - Prince Andrew.


Dealing with both Andrew and Sarah Ferguson from their childhoods through their marriage to the modern day, this is an exhaustive and somewhat depressing tale of indulgence, excesses and the effects of extreme wealth, difficult relationships between families and - as suggested by the title - entitlement and the effects of this on individuals and the havoc that is then wrought when exposed to the public eye.


Frankly, neither Andrew nor Ferguson emerge from the book in a flattering light. Lownie has contacted over 3,000 people, of whom - he suggests - just under a tenth replied. Threatening legal letters were sent to his publishers and Lownie suggests that Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) have been used to suppress events allowing the Yorks to control the narrative within the media.


It does not appear to have deterred Andrew Lownie. Is this a gratifying and pleasing depiction of the second son of the late Queen? Distinctly not. Will it be accused of prurience and muckracking by those with vested interests? Almost certainly. Is it worth reading? Absolutely.

Peter Newman, 
St Duthac Book and Arts Festival Commitee

As well as teaching, I have been a freelance journalist writing sports and
arts and have been reviewing books and interviewing authors on my website
for over a decade. Additionally, I have been a political candidate, a podcast host, a coach of various sports teams and am a co-opted member of the board of the Festival. I am really looking forward to trying to introduce our readers to some authors and topics which you may not have had the opportunity to encounter yet.