To mark the release of his controversial book, Entitled: The Rise And Fall Of The House Of York, author Andrew Lownie is holding his launch party at The London Library in St James’s Square tonight. However, one of Britain’s most prominent socialites has reportedly been left off the guest list.

Lady Victoria Hervey – the sister of the Marquess of Bristol – won’t be in attendance after the author took exception to her comments about the book, claims Richard Eden at the Daily Mail. Writing in his column, Mr Eden revealed that public relations executive Brian Basham asked if he could bring Lady Victoria as his plus-one, but this was declined.

However, Lady Victoria has dismissed suggestions that she was banned from the event, in a damning statement to the Daily Express.

In a statement, Lady Victoria said: “I definitely was not planning on going anywhere near that party.
It was a joke I had with Brian Basham saying he would say I was Mrs Basham and I said I would come in a wig! Never would have gone though. The guy has a really unhealthy obsession with the Yorks. Jacob Rees-Moggs’s interview with him was brilliant tv.”

Before Lady Victoria’s denial of the story, Mr Eden claimed in his column that the PR veteran’s request was turned down by Mr Lownie who reportedly said: “Look forward to seeing you, but she’s barred.” He went on to suggest that the author took exception to comments Lady Victoria made on GB News about his book.

Lady Victoria Hervey is the daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol and sister to the 7th and 8th Marquesses. She was once one of the most recognisable ‘It Girls’ of the 90s and was never far from the covers of magazines and tabloid headlines.

She has publicly discussed her past relationship with Prince Andrew and her connections to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. In the ITV documentary Ghislaine, Prince Andrew & the Paedophile, she revealed that she and Prince Andrew had a brief romantic involvement in 1999 and enjoyed dinners together.

Speaking about her experiences when she was living in the US, Lady Victoria spoke to Mr Eden in 2023, saying: “It all started getting scary when I got involved with a documentary about Ghislaine. I pretended to be on a whistleblower’s side to get evidence to support Ghislaine. I have been working undercover and it’s dangerous.

“The powers that be over there know all about me, I even thought I was being followed. I was glad to get back to the UK. I just want this to be over and stop looking over my shoulder. I am in touch with Prince Andrew, but I can’t discuss him.”