Watch the moment royal biographer Andrew Lownie undergoes an intense grilling on GB News, as Jacob Rees-Mogg lays into his new book about the Duke and Duchess of York.
Entitled The Rise and Fall of the House of York, the book was branded a “salacious hatchet job” by the GB News host, leaving a visibly shocked Lownie on the back foot.
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Jacob Rees-Mogg wasted little time before tearing into the book’s many claims
“What did you feel needed to be told that people didn’t know?” Jacob pressed.
Lownie replied: “This is the third in a trilogy on royal marriages. I did one on the Mountbattens, one on the Duke of Windsor, and now this.
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“The question people kept asking was, ‘What is the story of the happiest divorced couple ever?’ People are intrigued by a couple who were only married a short time but, thirty years later, still live together.
“There was a strong story there, especially with Andrew being in the news over Epstein—but what really interested me was how they leveraged their royal status for private gain, and the damage that did to the monarchy.”
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Jacob challenged the author directly about his ‘salacious’ claims
The conversation quickly escalated into an extraordinary on-air row, as Jacob began to dissect specific claims in the book.
He cited one allegation about Prince Philip having an affair with Susan Barrantes, asking bluntly: “What evidence do you have for that?”
Lownie replied: “My mother-in-law was a friend of hers.”
Jacob shot back: “Okay, but that’s gossip, isn’t it? This is my worry. It’s quite a gossipy book.”
Lownie urged him to consult the footnotes before dismissing the book as “gossipy”—but Jacob stunned him by revealing he already had.
“I looked, I thought you might mention that. When you look at the footnotes, it’s the newspapers,” he said.
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“It’s The Times. It’s Omid Scobie, who supports another part of the Royal Family. It’s the Daily Mail, it’s the Telegraph.
“You said something demonstrably not true. It’s newspapers quoting your reporting.”
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Lownie appeared to be caught off guard by Jacob who was on the war path
Lownie countered by directing him to the acknowledgments page, noting he had conducted three pages’ worth of interviews.
“Are you here just to hijack the book?” he snapped.
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“No. I’m here to ask you about it—your sources and the accuracy. Daily Mail, Daily Mail, Daily Mail, New York Times,” Jacob repeated as he listed the citations.
He then pointed to a passage about Prince Andrew allegedly hiring an escort, quoting: “The book says, ‘The comedian Katy Brand has a story from a friend.’ Is that a good source?”
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Jacob went through the book, bringing up its most staggering claims
“Sometimes, that is all we have,” Lownie admitted.
Jacob pounced: “That’s my point. You’ve got salacious gossip, starting with an unfounded allegation against Prince Philip. Would you have written it while he was alive and could have sued you for libel? You’re making sleazy claims without solid evidence.”
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Lownie pushed back, insisting the book is supported by “an awful lot” of strong sources, including on-the-record diplomats, naval personnel, and special royal representatives.
Jacob acknowledged Lownie had been “fair” in presenting diplomatic sources, noting their views on Andrew were “mixed.”
Lownie said Andrew and Ferguson are one of the most intriguing royal couples
But the debate flared up again when Jacob highlighted an anecdote claiming Sarah Ferguson once ate an entire side of beef every night.
“Do you really believe that?” Jacob asked.
Lownie responded with a swipe of his own, referencing Jacob’s own book: “We know from the reviews of your book that clearly a lot went wrong.”
“There were no errors in my book—people just didn’t like it?” Jacob cheekily shot back, as the staggering exchange drew to a close.
The 456-page biography makes explosive claims about Andrew’s early life.
According to an unnamed source cited in the book, Andrew lost his virginity aged eleven. The source claimed: “He admitted that his second sexual experience came before he turned 12 and when he was 13 he had already slept with more than half-a-dozen girls.”
The source suggested these premature experiences could be “the root of Andrew’s problems.”
The author revealed that tensions exist between Andrew and the Prince of Wales, noting that “Andrew has not always been very polite about Catherine.” He emphasised that William is “very protective of his wife.”