I have pre-ordered Andrew Lownie's Book (out I think 14th August) A thread for those interested in "Entitled"

[BasiliskStare]

So for those interested in this book about the Yorks. I will read it and interested to hear from others who have or to give an opinion.

No spitting , no gouging 😂

Quite ironic that they didn't think she was suitable because of something in her past given what is coming out about his life and deeds.

I haven’t read the book, but was wondering if there was any mention of that strange ailment he spoke of in the interview, not being able to sweat.

Is there such a condition?

I know Lownie a tiny bit personally & I have read all his books. Imo he is v trustworthy & thank goodness has the integrity to expose this in the face of threats.

As for Andrew, he us horrible. I am horrified by the SA claims. Not an excuse but would explain a lot. The upper classes are v dark often, see Earl Spencer's book.

Will it come out eventually? I'd love to read a Lownie book on Philip.

Thank you very much for this podcast recommendation. It really is quite shocking.

The way the Palace allegedly suppressed the interview that Amy Rodbach of ABC had secured with Virginia Giuffre about Prince Andrew and Epstein by allegedly threatening to withdraw access to Catherine and William which allowed Prince Andrew to allegedly carry on abusing trafficked girls for a further three years, who were btw picked out of a catalogue 😥. If true, that is appalling behaviour by Palace officials!

The talk about the royals and alleged off-shore accounts. Query: if true, why do the RF need offshore accounts when not subject to tax? Could it be that they want to obscure some of their sources of income?

The alleged refusal of the late Queen E2 to act on any of the reports of Andrew’s alleged corrupt practices while working as a trade envoy for a decade, even when these were allegedly presented to her through unofficial intelligence channels. Even when complaints were allegedly made about him by MPs, and diplomats only a few months after he took up the position.

How King Charles allegedly did not want Prince Andrew to be awarded the trade envoy job in the first place. The inference there being that he was allegedly overruled.

The interesting snippets about Fergie’s alleged cosy relationship with The Sun newspaper and how they allegedly took an article down when she complained about it and how the Arthur Edward’s puff piece allegedly came about. Also Fergie’s alleged friendly working relationship with Piers Morgan.

The term sexual abuse isn't used in the book. There is a reference to the father of a school friend taking Andrew and his son to a West End hotel and arranging an escort. My non-aristo brain, having read this, thought 'Who ever was the partner? A nanny? A member of staff? Surely Andrew was abused?'

Andrew Lownie, brought up in similar circles (I think), may see it as something that just happens and therefore not thought he was treating Andrew unfairly by revealing it. Apparently this practice is not uncommon in aristocratic circles. It's done to steer boys away from learning about sex with one another at boarding school.

Exactly. In his Mountbatten book he included the paedophilia allegations but also evidence that M himself was molested as a boy, probs similar protocol here, unpleasant tho it seems...

Lownie would certainly see it as abuse. He has mentioned in interviews how it caused dysfunctional views of sex.His Mountbatten book shows he knows exactly what abuse is.

Added tp that, I'm sure that it was never standard for boys of that age to go to brothels. Not 11. I do not believe that

Edited: Sorry the link hasn’t worked for some reason but Lownie discussed this on the ITV good morning programme and there is a clip of it on You Tube.

AL said he was able to find new information that allegedly backed up Virginia Giuffre’s story and that two sources allegedly placed Andrew and Virginia in the famous nightclub that night exactly as VG had described it. And although AL doesn’t say it in this clip I don’t think, he does mention AL sweating when mentioning this on another interview.

He does say in this interview though, when the sweating was mentioned, that anything that comes out of PA’s mouth should be treated with a pinch of salt or words to that effect.

Presuming it’s true about the prostitute , how would AL have found out about that?

Why didn't the Queen protect her favourite son? Amd Philip?

Maybe the other boy spoke? He said he spoke to friends. Or maybe another friend Andrew told about this

How about because they didn't know?

He's also done useful work on Ed's Nazi links & the Cambridge spy ring. So posh-focused, but broad.

And if people like Hugo Vickers can focus on positive books on the royals, why shouldn't he focus on the seamier side? Plenty of historians focus on royalty.

I mean, why was there no security etc to stop this horrible incident?

I used to be a monarchist & theoretically I am, but now think the rot runs too deep. Unless the next generation (I mean George etc) are different. But sadly I think it's going to come out how the Queen & Philip are v bound up in this too. Also more coming out about Mountbatten's paedophilia.

It's v hard to respect the royals after this.

That's like asking why Obama let his daughter near Weinstein. Or Andrew let his daughters near Epstein. These daughters won't be the ones abused.

The Kincora abuse was covered up by the British government and MI5 for decades.

SO many people allegedly involved, including a Bank of England governor, a Cambridge Uni high-up, an Eton head, lots of (mainly but not all Tory) MPs including Keith Joseph & Enoch Powell. If even half are true it beggars belief. It also raises serious questions about Thatcher's legacy given there' lots of evidence the family values champion turned a blind eye to abuse allegations when it suited her party.

There are a couple of examples in the book of Andrew sweating.

On the subject of salaciousness, Andrew Lownie has been saying in almost every interview that he did not set out to write a salacious book but that he reports what he finds out about his subject. And in this case, PA appears to be addicted to sex and money.

Imho PA’s sexual antics ceased to be a purely private matter when he, let’s say, allegedly indulged this alleged addiction while working as a UK trade envoy abroad and when a diplomat was allegedly told “PA likes blondes” and the diplomat allegedly responded “I’m not a pimp” , then there is a case to be made for legitimate public interest.

And in the interests of balance, AL has provided a very brief background explanation as to why PA may have an alleged sex addiction. If true, what PA was subjected to as a child was horrific and imho a direct result of neglect and a complete abdication of responsibility of the adults supposed to be acting in his interests.

But AL repeatedly insists that this book is fundamentally about financial wrongdoings and corruption, not sex. The sexual aspects of this are important because of Epstein and the alleged abuse of trafficked girls, but the financial scandal is equally worrying, because once more, the cover up appears to have allegedly gone right back to the Crown.

I hope that most reasonable Mumsnetters will agree that, if true, the level of cover up by the Palace on these issues is thoroughly scandalous and if PA has committed crimes that contravene UK corruption laws, he should be subject to the same investigations and legal redress that any other ordinary citizen would be subject to?

Imho the major questions to be answered now are:
-will the relevant hidden trade envoy papers finally be released by the Foreign office?
-will the National Crime Agency be allowed full access to investigate potential corruption charges against PA?
-will Erskine May be successfully challenged in Parliament and the conventions about not discussing the RF in Parliament be over-turned?
-how will the Palace respond to this book?
-how will the Palace distance themselves from PA and SF?
-in the light of these alleged revelations, does the general public believe that the RF can be trusted to be accountable for their own finances or should there be more public oversight over their financial dealings such as a Register similar to that required of MPs?
-why and how have many of these alleged stories, which have been previously alluded to or reported in newspapers, been swept under the carpet and ignored for so long?

I think it is clear that now that the late QE2 is no longer with us, that PA has lost his protector. And what does that say about our late monarch who we were led to believe put duty and country ahead of family? And if we can no longer trust some of the PR surrounding the late Queen, I think it is fair to ask, what else can we no longer trust about the RF?

What a mess of an upbringing.

Packed off to boarding school at eight, where you are seen as easy pickings for older boys to molest. And - then - the father of one of your friends arranges for you to lose your virginity to a prostitute at 11.

I think it is clear that now that the late QE2 is no longer with us, that PA has lost his protector. And what does that say about our late monarch who we were led to believe put duty and country ahead of family? And if we can no longer trust the PR surrounding the late Queen, I think it is fair to ask, what else can we no longer trust about the RF?

We cant trust anything. This is a family self interested in their continuance and wealth. Bags of cash. Friendships with dodgy people (a lot of ME royals with appalling human rights problems). Briefing against each other. Coining it by charging for cables to be run across 'their' land, even when that is the coast. Raking in money from their landholdings and being shitty landlords. Passing on private property as charities. This idea that they are there out of duty and love is bollocks. They are there to protect their privileged position and the fact that they have made people think anything else is a triumph of marketing.

So unlike the home life of our own dear...oh wait.

You want names and ages from Thailand? Thailand is a seamy, squalid and massively corrupt cesspit where nothing is as it seems and the lives of the poor and unprotected are worth nothing.