Prince Andrew is in talks with an American author about writing an explosive tell-all autobiography, it is being claimed. The Mail reports sources close to the Duke of York say he believes an autobiography would allow him to set the record straight following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The project is being described as 'Spare 2.0' following the release of Prince Harry’s controversial book, Spare. But the source told the Mail that Andrew was "the original spare" and "compared to Harry, he has a far greater depth of history to draw from."
Andrew's previous attempt at explaining himself was his notorious BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 but the feeling is that the Duke would have more control with a book. "Writing a book would give him the opportunity to fully explain his association with Jeffrey Epstein and the resulting fall-out," said the source. "It would also be a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the Royals and their relationships."
The report says that Andrew is reportedly in discussions with US author and interviewer Daphne Barak, who has written biographies of Amy Winehouse and former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. However it is understood she is currently engaged on a separate book project unrelated to the Royals.
Two leading publishers are said to be interested in an autobiography of the Duke, who settled with his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre in an out-of-court agreement last year. A lucrative book deal would be useful for Andrew, who has told friends he has received no inheritance from the Queen when she died.
Financial pressure on him could be increased by King Charles’s plans to slash Royal funding, which could see him ‘evicted’ from his Windsor home Royal Lodge unless he can pay for expensive maintenance.
The source said: "Andrew needs to find ways of making money and supporting himself. It would be a huge wrench to leave Royal Lodge. But mainly he wants to set the record straight. If he doesn’t change the narrative, no one else will."
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Jeremy Murphy, founder of New York-based PR firm 360bespoke, who has represented A-list names and authors, cautioned though that Andrew might struggle to get a big-money deal.
He told the Mail: ‘I have no doubt someone would make Andrew an offer. However, it is unlikely to be one of the big publishers. He still has the slime factor.
"Many publishers are owned by huge corporations and the blowback from giving this man a platform would not go over well with a big publicly traded company. So I feel a deal would be with a smaller publisher, perhaps one looking to make a name for itself.
"I do not think he would get a big advance. It would be likely a contract which rewarded him on the back end with royalties. I would be surprised if an advance was even a million dollars."
The Mail says that Ms Barak declined to comment and the Duke of York’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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