Alexander Larman

Alexander Larman is an author and the US books editor of The Spectator.

Andrew's downfall is nearly complete

Amidst all the ceremony and gravity of the Remembrance Day service on Sunday, one salient fact could not be ignored. The King has long talked of his desire for a ‘stripped-down monarchy’, and now he has his wish. The only male figures from the Firm who were out on show alongside him were the Prince

David Szalay is a worthy winner of the Booker Prize

The results of last night’s Booker Prize – the most prestigious and generous prize for literature in the country – were not entirely as anticipated. In a notably strong shortlist, which was finely balanced with three men and three women, it was anticipated that Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter would be the frontrunner for

Is Meghan Markle making a thespian comeback?

As the Royal Family attempts to maintain a ‘business as usual’ approach in the aftermath of the biggest scandal to have engulfed the institution in decades, the pair responsible for its last existential embarrassment have been notably silent. One might have expected, as Andrew was showily stripped of all his titles, some sanctimonious comment on

William's Rio trip risks being overshadowed

Cometh the hour, cometh the Prince of Wales. At least, that is what Prince William and those around him will be desperately hoping the result of his trip this week to Rio de Janeiro will be: a reset for the royal family after weeks of terrible, existentially damaging headlines, mainly but not entirely revolving around

John Lewis's Christmas advert might be its worst yet

John Lewis’s Christmas advert is back – and this year’s effort is even more mawkish, unfocused and wearying than ever. The latest promo, conceived by advertising veterans Saatchi & Saatchi, is yet another underwhelming instalment in the store’s increasingly desperate attempt to sell their wares. Everyone’s favourite bastion of middle-class sensibility has latched on to

Is it all over for Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie?

There is a saying, variously attributed either to Euripides or Shakespeare, that is something along the lines of ‘the sins of the father will be visited upon the children.’ By anyone’s reckoning, this is deeply unfair and wholly undeserved, but the treatment of Prince Andrew’s children, the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, will soon bear out

It's all over for Andrew Mountbatten Windsor

It’s all over for Prince Andrew or, as he is now known, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. The former Duke of York, ex-trade envoy and, for all we know, Grand Pooh-Bah of Kazakhstan, has been stripped of every one of his titles. Andrew has also been ejected from his Windsor mansion by his brother, the King. Mr

The sanctimony of Steve Coogan

About 20 years ago, the actor and comedian Steve Coogan did a tour called, with typical self-deprecation, Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters. I saw the show and it was, as you’d expect from Coogan, amusing and cleverly performed. Yet it ended strangely; Coogan sang a self-lacerating song called ‘Everyone’s a Bit

It's time for King Charles to get tough with Andrew

One of the many horrors of the Prince Andrew scandal is the way that, ever since it worsened a now scarcely imaginable ten days ago, there is the growing sense that it is becoming uncontainable. The depth and extent of public anger became clear yesterday when, during a visit to Lichfield Cathedral, a lone protestor,

Can Prince Andrew be trusted to live a 'private' life?

When I last wrote about the banned old Duke of York, following his voluntary decision to stop using his titles, I suggested that many will now be wondering why the last step of throwing him out the Royal Family altogether cannot be taken. Over the past week, something that would have been unlikely – even unthinkable –

The significance of the King’s visit to Rome

In any other week – or month, or year – King Charles’s visit to Rome would have been a truly seismic occasion, laden with symbolism and religious importance. Some may have recalled the unexpected significance of that great Father Ted line, ‘That would be an ecumenical matter’, when the news was announced that the King