By any measure, Prince Andrew’s public fall from grace has been both staggering and instructive. Entitled, Andrew Lownie’s devastating biography, delivers a coolly forensic account of how entitlement, poor judgment and institutional cover allowed the Queen’s second son — along with his former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York — to tumble from gilded privilege to ignominy. This isn’t just a royal biography. It’s a study in reputational collapse and the danger of unchecked power inside Britain’s most protected institution.
Full disclosure: I’ve met them all — Andrew, Sarah and the biographer, Lownie. I’ve reported on the royal family for 35 years and written a couple of Sunday Times bestsellers about them myself. I’ve interviewed the Duke of York. I know Sarah well enough and always liked her, but it hasn’t blinded me to her flaws. And I’ve had a long, friendly working relationship with Lownie. Unlike some of his previous subjects, including Joseph Stalin, Edward VIII and Lord Mountbatten, the Yorks are still very much alive — and watching. As are members of their family.
