Lownie, 64, said about the princesses: “The fact that they are still swanning around the Middle East, using their titles… it doesn’t send out the right signals if you want to work your passage back. It’s confusing”.
Biographer Andrew Lownie suggests Sarah Ferguson is negotiating financial security in exchange for her silence. Photo / Getty Images
He added: “I think it’s a very schizophrenic relationship at the moment with the royals and Beatrice and Eugenie.
“One minute they’re very publicly being told they’re not going to be invited to Ascot, then they are going. You get the sense of distancing and I think there’s possibly two schools of thought here.
“There’s Camilla, William and Kate, who see the reputational damage and want to keep them at arm’s length, and then there’s Charles who is a bit sentimental and feels obligated to be protective.”
Lownie’s biography Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York caused controversy when it was first published last year.
He has now released an updated edition featuring fresh claims about Andrew and Sarah.
They come as King Charles, 77, continues reshaping the monarchy amid ongoing debate over a slimmed-down royal household, while Prince William, 43, and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, 44, are said to be increasingly conscious of reputational risk surrounding the Yorks.
The Epstein scandal has continued to follow Andrew since his disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, which effectively ended his public royal duties.
Sarah, best known internationally as “Fergie” during her years as a senior royal alongside Andrew, has remained publicly supportive of her former husband despite years of controversy surrounding his friendship with Epstein.
Lownie’s updated biography also includes allegations that Andrew once kicked a dog during a royal shooting trip and behaved in a “foul manner” towards staff.