Andrew Lownie
Andrew James Hamilton Lownie is a British historian and author. He has written books about the royal family, on the Duke of Windsor and his links with the Nazis, and on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, including his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. He has also written biographies of John Buchan and the Soviet spy Guy Burgess.
Early life
Andrew Lownie was born in Scotland during November 1961 to Judge Ralph Lownie. He was educated at Cargilfield Preparatory School, Fettes College, Asheville School, North Carolina, and Westminster School, followed by Magdalene College, Cambridge, and was President of the Cambridge Union in Easter term 1984. He has a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Edinburgh, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His doctoral thesis was titled "Stalin's Englishman: the lives of Guy Burgess: biography in intelligence history" and discussed his own 2015 book on Burgess.Representation
Lownie founded his eponymous literary agency in 1988. It specialises in non-fiction, representing some 200 authors, and is reported to have "regularly been the top selling agent in the world." He founded, and is President of, The Biographers' Club, a group "committed to supporting, promoting and connecting biographers at all levels."Works
Lownie has written biographies of writer John Buchan, spy Guy Burgess and Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina. While researching for his book on the Mountbattens, Lownie found himself blocked by the Cabinet Office and University of Southampton from accessing some archive material, despite public money being used in 2011 to acquire Mountbatten family papers for the University in order to "ensure public access".In 2021, Lownie published Traitor King, a biography, based on fresh sources, of the Duke of Windsor. The former Edward VIII is alleged by Lownie to have been a Nazi sympathiser who gave aid and comfort to his country's enemies before and during the Second World War. His biography of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his former wife Sarah Ferguson, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, was published in 2025, and includes an account of Andrew's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Lownie has written a literary guide to Edinburgh, and edited several volumes of John Buchan's works.