Prince Andrew biographer says he knows who killed Epstein, drops shocking plot to kill two British Royals who could ‘spill the beans’

British historian and royal biographer Andrew Lownie has claimed Jeffrey Epstein was murdered, and that Epstein plotted to assassinate two British royals.

Lownie’s remarks came while promoting his 2025 book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, which examines Prince Andrew’s long and controversial ties to Epstein. Lownie told The Daily Beast Podcast that he has seen what he described as “internal FBI correspondence” suggesting Epstein was killed by another inmate.

Lownie’s Epstein death revelations

He said the murder claims in the FBI correspondence were “treated as fact.” He also revealed that he’d been given the name of the man he believes was Epstein’s killer, but declined to disclose it publicly, citing “liability considerations.” According to Lownie, his investigation continues. “I’d like to be able to follow up on this as soon as I can,” Lownie said.

Epstein’s death in August 2019 was officially ruled a suicide, but Lownie argues his findings — especially from what he claims are internal FBI materials — challenge that. The Department of Justice’s Inspector General and the FBI’s own final internal review confirmed the suicide conclusion.

The alleged sniper plot

At the same time, Lownie wrote on Substack, two people — one in Paris and another in Palm Beach, Florida — told him Epstein grew increasingly paranoid about Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, leaking damaging information about Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

He stated that Epstein believed especially Sarah Ferguson might “spill the beans on him” and that this was a “precautionary measure.” On his Substack, Lownie recorded a source claiming Epstein “had been in talks with a notorious U.K. sniper for hire.”

Prince Andrew once enjoyed a close friendship with Epstein, a relationship that has come under intense scrutiny. According to Lownie’s biography, their association began long before Andrew’s public admission and was more frequent and intimate than previously reported. Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in 2025, said she Epstein traffiked and forced her to have sex with the duke when she was 17, a claim Andrew has consistently and categorically denied.

Andrew also denied knowingly participating in or being aware of Epstein’s sex-trafficking activities, stating that any contact he maintained with Epstein after his 2008 conviction was a mistake but not evidence of complicity. Andrew later settled Giuffre’s civil lawsuit in 2022 without admitting wrongdoing, explaining through representatives that the agreement reflected a desire to support victims rather than an acceptance of the allegations.