The biggest claims about Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in new book

British historian and biographer Andrew Lownie has written a new book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of The House of York loaded with revelations about how the lives of Queen Elizabeth's second son, Prince Andrew, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, are still deeply entwined.

Lownie also makes claims about the prince's relationships with Jeffrey Epstein and his business activities, which he discussed with RNZ'sSunday Morning.

Lownie has previously written biographies of Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina, The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves, and Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor a biography of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis, Duchess of Windsor.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson still live together at the Royal Lodge in Windsor which is part of the Crown estate, just outside of London. The couple legally separated in early 1992. Ferguson has described it as "divorced to each other, not from each other".

They are still very close, Lownie says, “for the simple reason that she could spill the beans".

"She has actually, over the years .... has threatened to spill beans, either talking to other people or doing an autobiography," he says.

“And so, it's easier to keep her on side. Prince Philip couldn't stand her, wouldn't talk to her for about 20 years. And both he and the Queen were very concerned that she was hanging in limpet there to Andrew, wouldn't let him move on with his life.”

Most members of the royal family will have nothing to do with her, he claims.

“She's suspected of leaking stories about them to the press, and they don't trust her.”

Lownie says there are mechanisms to strip Andrew of his titles - Knight of the Garter, Vice-Admiral, Prince and his dukedom. He believes Prince William, when he comes to the throne, will do that.

“It may be that if Charles continues to be king for many years, that the problem of Andrew sort of disappears. He goes into exile in the way the Duke of Windsor did, disappears up to Balmoral.

“Whatever happens I don't think there's any chance of Andrew trying to rehabilitate himself. It's not in his character, and I don't think anyone would believe that. So, all he can do is vanish, really, from even the family events. I don't think we'll be seeing him walking to church at Sandringham, for example.

“And I think that the hope is that the problem will just go away. I mean, there have been leaked stories to the press that there's a conference going on at Balmoral at the moment, and Charles is seeing all his advisors to deal with the Andrew problem. But the Andrew problem has been there for 30 years.”

From 2001 to 2011 Prince Andrew served as Britain's special representative for Trade and Investment with a remit to promote UK business interests abroad. He stood down in 2011 over revelations about his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“One of the big focuses of the book is on his time as special trade representative.

“My conjecture, which I think I've proved, is that he and indeed Sarah Ferguson have monetised their position in the royal family for their own personal gain.

“They're what I call rogue royals, which is what I specialise in. And it was a pretty shocking story.

“This is a story about financial corruption as much as it is about sexual scandal.”

In 2019 BBC journalist Emily Maitlis interviewed Prince Andrew. It was a disaster for the prince and the royal family. During the one-hour interview, the then 64-year-old prince publicly addressed sexual assault allegations and his involvement with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for the first time.

Virginia Giuffre, who accused the prince of sexual abuse, took her own life in Australia last year.

Lownie says the reason Andrew did the interview is “because he's very stupid and he's got away all his life with telling lies and no one calling him to account".

“...I think he just thought that he was protected, the Queen protected him, and that even if people like me came along, he would get away with it.”

There are stories in the book about the Prince's high-handed behaviour such as insulting staff and using protection officers to collect his golf balls.

“He can certainly be polite to the right people whom he feels are useful. But the majority of stories, I mean I would say 99 percent of people who've encountered him have found him boorish and arrogant.

“He has a very strong sense of his own entitlement, which is why the book's called Entitled. You know, he was spoilt from a very early age by the Queen.

"He was never set any boundaries. He’s got away with bad behaviour all his life and he's continued to act in this way, which is why in some ways it's a tragic story, but it's about his own hubris.”