ROYAL biographer Andrew Lownie will be one of the ‘big name’ speakers attending this year’s Dulverton Exmoor Literary Festival, just weeks after the release of his book chronicling The House of York - better known as Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Fergusson,

The book, titled ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’, is the first joint biography of the Duke and Duchess of York.

Mr Lownie drew on four years of research, numerous freedom of information requests, and interviews with more than 100 people who had never spoken before, to trace the lives of the late Queen’s second son and his ex-wife through their childhoods, courtship, marriage, divorce, careers, and royal and charitable activities.

Investigating the reality of the couple’s relationship, it assesses Prince Andrew’s Falklands record, his business dealings, and reveals new details of how the couple have been able to financially sustain their extravagant lifestyles.

It also delves deeper into links with Jeffrey Epstein, which Mr Lownie says began earlier, continued longer, and were much more frequent than reported.

Chronicling Andrew and Sarah’s lives in parallel, a picture emerges of a spoilt prince unable to connect and a duchess pushed by her insecurities into a desperate need to maintain the attention her ‘royal’ status brought.

Literary festival director Ali Pegrum said: “Expect a fascinating author talk from one of Dulverton Exmoor Literary Festival’s greatest supporters.”

News of Mr Lownie’s appearance at the festival, which runs from November 14 to 17, comes hot on the heels of the scoop in attracting The Observer journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou, who exposed a more uncomfortable truth about the ‘true story’ behind the book ‘The Salt Path’, which has been made into a film released earlier this year.

‘Salt Path’ author Raynor Winn, who writes about how she and husband Moth walked the South West West Coast Path after he was diagnosed with a terminal illness and they lost their home, was due to speak at the festival but pulled out after Ms Hadjimatheou’s expose.

The festival will also be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen with lifelong Austen fan Jessica Bull in conversation with Austen expert Dr Helena Kelly.

Ms Bull has chosen the festival to launch her third ‘Miss Austen Investigates’ novel, ‘The Austen Christmas Murders’.

Ms Kelly has launched her new title ‘The Worlds of Jane Austen: The Influences and Inspiration behind the Novels’ to coincide with this year’s anniversary celebrations.

Broadcaster, author, and political commentator Iain Dale, whose book ‘Margaret Thatcher’ introduces the former Prime Minister to new generations a century after her birth, is also attending the festival and will be in conversation with best-selling historian Jonathan Dimbleby.

The festival programme is expected to be printed by the end of August and copies will be posted to ‘Festival Friends’ who have supported the event with a minimum £20 donation.

Advance online ticket booking will open to ‘friends’ on Monday, September 15, with the box office then opening a week later.