Hi, it's Manveen. This weekend we thought you'd want to hear one of our sister podcasts, just to get a sense of what the Times is producing across the board. We'll be back, as usual tomorrow, for the Sunday Story.

Thank you. Hello, welcome to the Royals with me Kate Mansy from The Times.

Roy is away this week, so it's me on my own but with some very special guests. Today's episode starts with a question. What do you get when you mix a disgraced

prints, sealed government files and a very determined historian? Well, for some, it's a battle over reputation

and who controls the royal narrative. Because sometimes when it comes to the royal family,

there are files we can see and those we can't. Trips we can't even find out about. Decisions are

made sometimes, even with public money, that stay

hidden from view, it seems. Of course, this isn't just about battling for dusty archives, it's about

power, access, and whether there are things that should be allowed to remain behind closed doors.

Joining me today, I'm very pleased to say, is historian and author Andrew Lowney.

The results of his book entitled The Rise and Fall of the House of York have been splashed across the news this week,

creating lots of headlines and even more difficult questions for Prince Andrew.

It's all about transparency and the limits of royal privacy.

And as you put it, Andrew, it's a dark comedy and a tragedy all wrapped up in one. So tell us a bit

about how the project started because I remember visiting you in your office and there were sort of piles and piles of

ring binder folders

full of documents and things like that. Why did you think now was a good time to look at Andrew?

We've had stories over the years, haven't we, all the different stories about his financial dealings

and obviously his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender, which ultimately

that friendship led to his downfall

after the car crash news night interview. But actually to see it all together kind of catalogued,

if you like, in the book is quite extraordinary. Yeah, it is shocking when you pull it together.

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