As we discussed on Sunday, the Daily Mail published a lengthy excerpt from Andrew Lownie’s new book about Prince Andrew and the York family. The book is called Entitled. In the first part of the Mail’s serialization of the book, there was a HUGE emphasis on Andrew’s sexual depravity and his association with Jeffrey Epstein. Fair enough, in my opinion. But the Mail also knew that they needed to connect Andrew with the royal who gets the most attention: Prince Harry. Magically, buried under dozens of lurid paragraphs about Andrew’s behavior towards women, there was a section about Andrew falling out with Prince Harry. According to Lownie’s sources, Andrew and Harry got into a physical fight in 2013, and then years later, Andrew had a lot of nasty sh-t to say about Meghan.
The Mail’s Entitled excerpt hadn’t even been online for 24 hours before Harry was issuing statements. Harry’s spokesperson told People: “I can confirm neither of those things are true. Prince Harry and Prince Andrew have never had a physical fight, nor did Prince Andrew ever make those comments about the Duchess of Sussex to Prince Harry.” As I theorized on Sunday, it would make perfect sense if they were crediting Andrew with saying sh-t which was really said by William. But according to Lownie, he stands by his reporting… even if his publisher asked him not to ask for the Sussexes’ to comment on any part of the book.
Lownie told The Daily Beast he stood by the story, saying he had rechecked and reconfirmed it with his source.
“I stand by my source, who has proved reliable and was close to Andrew. They had no reason to make this up and gave me lots of detail,” Lownie said. “On the other hand, it is understandable that Prince Harry’s spokesman should seek to deny the story which has shades of the altercation he had with his brother. I’m afraid there is a long history of the Duke of Sussex being economical with the truth.”
Lownie said he had not gone to the Sussex camp for comment on the specific allegations about the fight with Andrew before publication, saying his publishers had not asked him to.
Complicating matters is the fact that the story was first published as an article in Saturday’s Daily Mail, a newspaper with which Harry has had a long and fractious relationship. Harry is currently part of a class action lawsuit, which includes Elton John, that accuses the paper of illegal information-gathering. The case is due to go to trial in 2026.
British journalists are absolutely insane, my god. Oh, good, you double-checked with your unnamed source and he doubled-down even though the person you’re accusing of assault has stated on the record that it never happened? And Lownie saying that Harry is lying about this situation, but Lownie’s unnamed source has it right? The reference to William assaulting Harry is completely bonkers too, not to mention victim-blaming. Obviously, this is unfolding into a huge mess, so no surprise, the Sussexes’ lawyers are getting involved:
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have sent legal letters to the Daily Mail over allegations of a fist fight with Prince Andrew and derogatory comments about Meghan, Newsweek can reveal. Andrew Lownie’s new book, Entitled, paints a scathing portrait of Andrew as sex-obsessed, boorish and privileged.
However, it is Harry and Meghan’s legal team, not the Duke of York’s, who have been mobilized to respond to the allegations. And that’s because of passages suggesting Harry and Andrew had a fist fight in 2013 and others stating the latter was dismissive of Meghan.
Extracts from the book were serialized in the Daily Mail on Saturday, prompting a strongly worded denial by Harry’s team that evening.
Now though, Harry’s team has told Newsweek they have called in lawyers: “Such are the gross inaccuracies, damaging and defamatory remarks made in the Daily Mail’s story, I can confirm a legal letter from Prince Harry’s counsel has been sent to the Mail.”
Saturday’s statement, also sent to Newsweek, read: “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.”
Would Harry really sue over this? I have no idea – my guess is that if he sues anyone, it will be Lownie and Lownie’s publisher, not the Mail for serializing this mess. I hope Harry sees the bigger picture too, which is that this is a book full of all kinds of lurid accusations about Andrew’s behavior, and if Harry made this all about himself, it would actually be a distraction from the larger conversations about how Andrew is a degenerate and he needs to be put on some kind of ice floe.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
