The Epstein scandal returned to the centre of royal coverage this week after biographer Andrew Lownie claimed in a podcast interview that Jeffrey Epstein used Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to gain status, access and, potentially, entry to other members of the Royal Family.

Speaking on The Royalist podcast, Lownie said the former Duke of York was ‘very, very helpful’ to Epstein and suggested the story may extend beyond Andrew, though he offered allegations and reported anecdotes rather than confirmed evidence.

Andrew Lownie Sets Out How Prince Andrew ‘Helped’ Epstein

Speaking on The Royalist Podcast from The Daily Beast, Andrew Lownie argued that Epstein understood precisely what Prince Andrew could offer him and worked to extract maximum advantage.

Asked what Epstein saw in the royal, Lownie replied that the billionaire ‘had targeted several royal families’, not only the Windsors, and regarded Andrew as a particularly valuable asset. In Lownie’s words, Epstein ‘saw him as someone who gave Epstein credibility, gave him access to various people, not least perhaps other members of the royal family.’

Lownie told host Tom Sykes that, in his assessment, ‘for Epstein, Andrew was very, very helpful.’ He described how being able to show off photographs of Andrew ‘sitting on the throne in Buckingham Palace or going up to Sandringham’ functioned as a calling card in Epstein’s world, a way to impress and reassure other powerful figures.

According to Lownie, the suggestion that Epstein could offer a ‘shooting weekend up in Sandringham’ became a ‘useful sort of negotiating tool with other people.’

These claims mirror, and expand on, the research in Lownie’s book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, in which he portrays Andrew as ‘easy prey’ and a ‘useful i***t’ exploited for his social status.

‘Other Royals May Have Been Involved’ In Epstein Network, Lownie Says

The line that will trouble the Palace most is Lownie’s suggestion that the Andrew‑Epstein connection might not be an isolated case. He told the podcast there were ‘stories that perhaps other members of the royal family may have been involved with Epstein’, though he did not name those individuals as confirmed participants.

Lownie said he had spoken to one woman who alleged that Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, had dinner with Epstein in 1994, when she was dating Prince Edward. As of writing, there is no indication from the material provided that Sophie has responded publicly to it.

Even so, the anecdote underscores Lownie’s broader point: that Epstein appears to have sought contact with multiple royal households and not just one wayward prince.

Lownie characterises this as part of a wider operation in which young women were, in his view, only one aspect of a strategy to ‘compromise financial, political and other figures in order to take secrets out of them or blackmail them.’

Epstein’s ‘Super Bowl Trophy’ And Prince Andrew’s Fall

Lownie’s latest comments also revisit the question of what Prince Andrew himself gained from the relationship. The material from his book suggests it was not a one‑way street.

According to Entitled, Epstein helped clear debts owed by Andrew’s ex‑wife Sarah Ferguson and offered him access to women and luxury travel. Lownie cites Epstein’s former business mentor Steven Hoffenberg, who is quoted describing Andrew as the financier’s ‘Super Bowl trophy’ because of the royal legitimacy he brought to Epstein’s circle.

Publicly, Andrew long maintained that he first met Epstein in 1999. Lownie, however, says his research indicates that Andrew and Sarah Ferguson had known Epstein for almost a decade before that date.

In late 2025, King Charles III stripped his brother of his remaining royal titles amid revived focus on the Epstein connection. In early 2026, the King removed him from Royal Lodge, the Crown Estate mansion he had occupied for more than twenty years.

Then, in February 2026, Andrew was arrested at Sandringham on suspicion of misconduct in public office after emails released by the US Department of Justice appeared to suggest he had passed sensitive government documents to Epstein while serving as Britain’s trade envoy. He was released under investigation after questioning and has not been charged.

Pressed on where he thinks the story is heading, Lownie offered a pessimistic answer for those who want a public reckoning. ‘I think the scandal may grow beyond just Andrew [Mountbatten‑Windsor],’ he told the podcast, yet he also said: ‘We’re already being prepared for no charges to be laid. The last thing the royal family wants is all their dirty linen aired in public.’

As of this reporting, based on the material provided, there is no indication that the Palace has publicly responded to Andrew Lownie’s podcast interview.

Andrew Lownie’s remarks follow years of scrutiny of Andrew’s friendship with Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on trafficking charges.

The former Duke of York has consistently denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.