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The author of a new book about Prince Andrew has called for “more accountability from the Royal Family and more transparency” after encountering what he claims was considerable secrecy while researching his book.<\/p>\n
Andrew Lownie<\/strong><\/a> has spent four years working on Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York – a book unauthorised by Prince Andrew – and submitted hundreds of Freedom of Information requests to government departments.<\/p>\n However, he’s revealed to Sky News that all of his applications for information about Prince Andrew<\/strong><\/a> and his official work were knocked back.<\/p>\n The royal household and the royal archive are already exempt from FoI requests.<\/p>\n Speaking ahead of the book’s publication, which has already attracted considerable attention<\/strong><\/a> because of more lurid claims about the duke, Mr Lownie told Sky News: “Clearly there are details that people have picked up on and run with. And you know, that’s inevitable in these sort of books.”<\/p>\n But he added: “If they’re to earn our trust and support, they have to show that they are not hiding things – that they are behaving well.”<\/p>\n Mr Lownie said he was given a catalogue of reasons by the likes of the Foreign Office and the Department for Business and Trade as to why they couldn’t help with information about Prince Andrew’s public work as a trade envoy in the 2000s.<\/p>\n Sky News was shown a selection of those response letters.<\/p>\n “They blame everything from security reasons, to cost and man hours, to data protection, to my questions being too broad,” the author said.<\/p>\n But Mr Lownie believes it’s in the interest of the Windsors to be more open if they want to guarantee long-term backing from the public, and he hopes his book may trigger more calls for greater transparency.<\/p>\n Read more UK news: It comes as a new YouGov report found that Prince Andrew remains the most unpopular royal in the country, with 87% of people having a negative view of him. According to the survey, just 5% of people have a favourable view of the Duke of York.<\/p>\n The poll also found the royals are less popular with a younger audience.<\/p>\n Only 36% of 18 to 24-years-olds believe the monarchy is good for the country, compared with about 60% of Britons overall.<\/p>\n The generational difference is underlined given 81% of over-65s think Britain should continue to have a monarchy, but this falls with each age group to just 41% of 18 to 24s.<\/p>\n
Met Police make ‘most arrests in a decade’ at protest<\/a>
Major incident as crews battle wildfire near Bournemouth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n