Prince Andrew is "annoyed" over the "lack of royal status", according to the author of a bombshell new book about the Duke. Andrew Lownie has been making headlines in recent weeks after parts of his unauthorised biography on the Duke of York, Entitled: The Rise And Fall Of The House Of York, were serialised online ahead of the book's release this week.

The author claimed the disgraced Duke, who stepped down as a working member of the Firm in 2019 due to his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, despite denying all allegations against him, does not appear to have a bright future regarding his royal and private life. He said that Andrew is already "living the life of a retired man".

Mr Lownie told Sky News: "I don't think he has any public future. I would say his private future is pretty limited, too.

"I mean, he lives in Royal Lodge [on the Windsor Estate], he plays golf, watches TV, and presumably sees his grandchildren ... he's living the life of a retired man."

The author, whose book is being released this Thursday, said that one member of royal stuff claimed that Andrew has been most affected by the removal of his royal and military titles.

He said: "What most annoys him is his lack of a royal status. That's what really sort of gave him his whole sense of identity.

"And that's, you know, it's not being able to put on his uniforms and strut around and being self-important."

It comes after it emerged that Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are reportedly feeling "mortified" at the latest claims about Prince Andrew and are keeping their distance from their father.

Elsewhere, the author called for "more accountability from the Royal Family and more transparency" after encountering what he claims was considerable secrecy while researching his book.

He revealed to the outlet how he submitted hundreds of Freedom of Information requests to government departments abbout the Duke and his official work, which were knocked back for various reasons.

He said: "They blame everything from security reasons, to cost and man hours, to data protection, to my questions being too broad."

The royal household and the royal archive are already exempt from FOI requests.

It comes as the Duke emerged as the most disliked member of the Royal Family in the latest poll by YouGov.

Andrew was at the bottom of the latest ranking list, with nearly nine in 10 (87%) Britons saying they dislike him and just one in 20 (5%) saying they do.