Lownie Defends Ferguson Claim

Andrew Lownie has pushed back against criticism of a claim made in the updated paperback version of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, in which he alleges that Sarah Ferguson had a “friends with benefits” arrangement with Sean “Diddy” Combs.

“I stand by it,” Lownie, 64, told London’s The Times on Saturday, May 9.

In the revised edition of his 2025 book, the royal biographer writes that Ferguson, 66, and Combs, 58, were introduced at a 2002 gathering hosted by Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, and allegedly became sexually involved in 2004. He further claims that Ferguson brought Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35, to meet Combs during a yacht weekend in 2006, when Eugenie was 16.

Lownie also alleges that Combs spoke about the supposed relationship to people around him and that he and Ferguson met on several occasions at luxury hotels in Africa and Europe, including one property reportedly priced at £50,000 a night. Us Weekly has sought comment from representatives for both Ferguson and Combs.

Combs is currently serving a 50-month prison term at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey after being convicted in 2025 on two counts of transportation for prostitution. Following an eight-week trial, he was cleared of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.

The book also returns to Ferguson’s marriage to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, alleging affairs before their 1992 split and examining the pair’s links to Epstein. Those ties had already drawn major attention after allegations involving Virginia Giuffre and later became part of a wider crisis for the House of York under King Charles III.

By late 2025, Charles had removed Mountbatten-Windsor’s royal titles, while Ferguson gave up the use of hers out of respect for her former husband. He was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations that he shared confidential financial material with Epstein while working as a U.K. trade envoy between 2001 and 2011. He has not entered a plea.