EXCLUSIVE DETAILS: Andrew Lownie Sues Simon & Schuster for Pulling His Explosive Prince Andrew Tell-All — After Melania Trump Threatened $1Billion Lawsuit Over Epstein Allegations
Andrew Lownie's book originally included a passage linking Melania Trump to Jeffrey Epstein.
Dec. 12 2025, Updated 3:02 p.m. ET
Famed British author Andrew Lownie has sued US publishing giant Simon & Schuster for breach of contract, RadarOnline.com can confirm, alleging the company pulled the plug on the state-side distribution of his explosive Prince Andrew tell-all under false pretenses.
Lownie's overseas best-seller, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, raised the ire of First Lady Melania Trump when initial editions claimed she was introduced to her future husband, Donald, by Jeffrey Epstein.
'Breach of Contract'
The author included many allegations about former Prince Andrew in the book.
Around 60,000 copies of Entitled initially included a claim that Epstein introduced Trump to Melania at a New York party in the 1990s.
After the book hit newsstands in England, Melania threatened a "billion-dollar lawsuit" against Lownie and overseas publisher HarperCollins, which quickly retracted and removed the accusation from all future editions.
Then, as Lownie was preparing for the US release of his book, Simon & Schuster told him they wouldn't be publishing it either, despite his contract with the company.
As Lownie explained on his personal Substack: "In March 2025 Simon and Schuster, via their Gallery Books imprint, acquired US rights to the book, paying the first instalment of a $250k advance.
"Four days after delivery of the manuscript, their editorial team sent me a brief set of notes, eight bullet points in total, describing the book as fully shaped but requesting small changes, such as an introduction. I immediately set about making the revisions, as is entirely normal."
Terminated Contract
Andrew's royal life was brought down due to his connections to Epstein.
"However, to my astonishment, the publisher terminated the contract on May 15, just a month after delivery and sixty-two days before the deadline the contract allowed for revisions.
"They did so on the grounds of 'editorial unacceptability', despite having already said the material was all there and despite not having read the revised manuscript."
Lownie said he was forced to self-publish a sloppy version of the book that was filled with errors. He contends the cancellation not only affected this book, but his entire reputation.
"This was my opportunity, after forty years in books, to break into the American market, and it was simply killed," he said. "I genuinely wonder what is going on at Simon & Schuster. I'm angry because this reflects a casual, cavalier culture: books are simply canned, consequences are ignored, and those responsible appear to believe they can get away with it."
Lownie Stands By His Source
Donald Trump and Epstein were once close friends at Mar-a-Lago.
It's not clear if the Melania threat and controversy had any bearing on Simon & Schuster's decision, but HarperCollins was clearly spooked, pulling all unreleased and unsold copies of the book and confirming the passages had been removed.
However, in an exclusive interview with Radar, Lownie stood by his claim.
"My source has proved to be reliable on everything he gave me, so I wouldn’t have put it in if I didn’t think it was true," Lownie explained. "Everything was double-checked."
The Fall of Lownie
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Lownie stands by his reporting.
In a statement at the time, the publisher explained: "HarperCollins UK recently published a book by Andrew Lownie titled Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York. We have, in consultation with the author, removed passages of the book that referenced unverified claims about the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump."
But Lownie seemed baffled by the decision, and hinted his publishers were frightened off by the powerful first couple.
"It was one sentence in a 140,000-word book," Lownie said. "They took it out just to avoid the nuisance of a lawsuit, and we haven’t had another word since."
