EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Lownie Sues Simon & Schuster for 'Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars' After Publisher Pulls Royals Author's Explosive Prince Andrew Tell-All Amid Epstein Scandal
Andrew Lownie has sued the US publishers of his Andrew tell-all.
Dec. 19 2025, Published 4:45 p.m. ET
Famed British author and investigator Andrew Lownie was ready to make his mark in America with his blockbuster tell-all on the former Prince Andrew and the Royal Family's ties to s-- creep Jeffrey Epstein.
But his stateside publishers suddenly canceled his book without warning or cause, he told RadarOnline.com. Now he'll see them in court.
Lownie insists Simon & Schuster canceled the book under false pretenses.
Lownie has sued US publishing giant Simon & Schuster for breach of contract, alleging the company pulled the plug on the state-side distribution of his book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, under false pretenses.
He told Radar he was hopeful the overseas bestseller could open the door to US consumers.
"After forty years of publishing books, winning some prizes and two top ten bestsellers in the UK, I saw this as my breakout book in the US," Lownie said. "In the UK, the book went straight to no. 1 on both the Amazon and Sunday Times list and remained there for six weeks, but S&S said it was unpublishable.
"The result was no bookshop sales, no marketing, and languishing at 12,000 on Amazon when it could have been a New York Times bestseller."
Andrew Lownie's Big Break Falls Apart
The book was a deep dive into former Prince Andrew's relationship with Epstein.
According to the lawsuit, which Radar has obtained, Simon & Schuster weasto "pay Plaintiff a $250,000 advance against future royalties in three parts as is customary in the publishing industry."
Lownie says the company followed through on the first payment, but after agreeing on some edits and revisions, the company "shockingly" canceled the book altogether.
"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," he said.
"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."
Andrew Lownie was Forced to Self-Publish
Andrew's scandal cost him his royalhood.
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 also 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 is suing for the rest of his pay, and justifies in the lawsuit: "Because the Defendant terminated the Agreement prior to the ninety-day period the contract provided for revisions, and ultimately failed to publish within the timeframe required by the Agreement, Plaintiff is entitled to the second and final installments of the advance payment."
Epstein-Trump Controversy
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Donald Trump and Epstein were once close friends at Mar-a-Lago.
Lownie's book has been the subject of controversy in the past, after it raised the ire of First Lady Melania Trump when initial editions claimed she was introduced to her future husband, Donald, by Epstein.
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.
However, Lownie stands by his reporting and insists the claim did not scare off Simon & Schuster.
"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."
