The investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is beginning to pull others into its orbit. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the former royal's daughters, are facing renewed public scrutiny after a well-known royal author argued they should be questioned about their father's business dealings - and made a series of claims about national security that have sent shockwaves through royal commentary.
The Author Behind the Claims
Royal biographer Andrew Lownie is no outsider to this story. In 2025 he published Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, a biography that examined decades of controversy surrounding the family. Speaking on Sky News Australia's The Bolt Report, Lownie now argues that the sisters should face questions about their alleged involvement in their father's business affairs.
According to Lownie, the princesses "accompanied him on many of these trips" during Andrew's decade as the UK's Trade Envoy, a role he held between 2001 and 2011. The author suggested the sisters may have benefited from connections formed during that period, when Andrew traveled extensively on behalf of British commercial interests. These are claims, it should be stressed, not established findings - no authority has accused either woman of wrongdoing.
The Arrest That Started It All
The backdrop is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest last week by British officials on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The 66-year-old, who was stripped of his royal titles and residence following years of scandal tied to his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was released and remains under investigation. No charges have been announced.
Lownie believes the arrest may be only the opening move. "The police are looking into misconduct in public office," he said. "There clearly is a lot of evidence, particularly now from the dump of Epstein material, which backs up what I've done in my research."
The biographer added that he expects the inquiry to widen: "I don't think this precludes an investigation into the sex trafficking, and I think we're also getting a new area to look into and that's national security."
National Security Allegations
The most explosive portion of the interview concerned what Lownie described as possible compromises of sensitive information. "One of the problems was that Andrew was also leaking defence and military secrets - that's now been hinted at by officials in Whitehall," he claimed.
Lownie said such accusations had long circulated in his research but could not be published in his book for legal reasons. He went further, asserting, "I've now got access to various reports from American intelligence, showing that he had basically been subdued by Russian intelligence."
These statements are allegations from a single author and have not been confirmed by any government or law enforcement body. Whitehall officials have not publicly verified the characterization, and Andrew's representatives have consistently denied wrongdoing. Still, the claims have reignited debate about why Andrew was permitted to hold a sensitive trade role for a decade despite known associations with disgraced figures.
What This Means for the Sisters
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie hold no royal titles of office. Both have built private careers - Beatrice in finance and technology consulting, Eugenie in the art world - while occasionally representing charitable causes. Neither has been charged with or accused of any crime.
Yet public pressure has a logic of its own. Commentators argue that if investigators examine Andrew's commercial networks, anyone who traveled with him or shared in introductions made during his envoy years could reasonably expect to be interviewed - if only as witnesses. Calls for formal questioning of the sisters have grown louder on social media and in sections of the press, though legal experts note that calling for interviews in the media does not mean investigators consider them necessary.
Both women have so far made no public comment on their father's arrest or on Lownie's remarks, a silence that royal observers say is likely strategic while the investigation is active.
The Epstein Material Keeps Expanding
Fueling much of the current turmoil is the continued release of documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Each new batch has produced headlines about Andrew's past interactions with the financier, whose sex trafficking network ensnared dozens of victims before his death in prison. Andrew settled a civil case with one of Epstein's victims in 2022 while denying any wrongdoing, and has never faced criminal charges related to Epstein.
Lownie argues the material now available independently corroborates parts of his biography. Whether it substantiates any criminal offense is a question only investigators and, eventually, prosecutors can answer.
A Family Under Siege
For the royal family, the situation is agonizing. King Charles acted decisively in removing his brother from royal life, but a criminal investigation cannot be managed with press releases. The involvement - even rhetorically - of a new generation, Beatrice and Eugenie, extends the fallout to relatives who built lives outside the institution.
For now, the facts remain narrow: one arrest, one active investigation, and a set of serious but unverified claims from a biographer with a book to promote and a long history of reporting on the family. Readers should follow the story with that distinction firmly in mind - between what has been alleged and what has been proven.
