The royal author of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's biography is suing a major US publisher after accusing them of "pulling the plug" on his book.
The biography, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, was published in the summer and became a bestseller in the UK.
The author claims it was scheduled for release in the US but was pulled at the last minute, forcing royal biographer Andrew Lownie to self-publish.
He alleged that Simon and Schuster's Gallery Books had cancelled the book deal and described the piece as "unpublishable".
The royal author of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's biographer is suing Simon and Schuster's Gallery Books
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Speaking to American news site NewsNation, Mr Lownie said: "(Gallery) bought the book based on a finished manuscript in February.
"They advertised the book and everything - and then pulled the plug a few weeks before the book was set to come out, and they said it was unreadable.
"But according to their contract, they had to give me 90 days' notice, which they did not."
Mr Lownie is now suing the publisher for $500,000 (£372,000).
The royal author of Andrew's biographer is suing for $500,000 (£372,000)
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The lawsuit reads: "On May 15, 2025, defendant terminated the agreement for 'unacceptability' despite plaintiff having 62 days remaining in that 90-day period - a clear breach of the agreement's express provision and in bad faith...
"Because the defendant terminated the agreement prior to the 90-day period the contract provided for revisions, and ultimately failed to publish within the timeframe required by the agreement, plaintiff is entitled to the second and final instalments of the advance payment."
Mr Lownie claimed that the publisher "didn't go through with their own contract" and described the impact as "very damaging".
He said: "They basically just pulled the rug out from under me. I had to create a company called Westminster Press to publish my own book.
Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York became a bestseller in the UK
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"This was very damaging. I didn't have any copies out in bookshops."
GB News has contacted Gallery Books for comment.
Andrew is currently under fire after the revelation that he was paying rent at a cut-price deal for a flat in central London, accommodated by Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
A new investigation uncovered that Andrew paid merely £1,600 per month to rent a four-bedroom apartment at St James's Palace for his daughters.
The biographer said the impact has been 'very damaging'
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Comparable properties within St James's Palace commanded £20,000 monthly on the open market.
The 65-year-old's annual outlay of under £20,000 represented a fraction of the £240,000 such accommodation would typically generate for Crown coffers.
Throughout the 14-year period, his daughters resided at the prestigious central London address, the arrangement potentially saved Andrew as much as £3.1million, according to the Mail on Sunday.
This marks the second controversy surrounding the royal's housing arrangements, following earlier revelations about his rent-free occupation of the 30-room Royal Lodge on the Windsor Estate spanning two decades.
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