PMJ wins auction for Tom Sykes’ book on ‘greatest threat to the monarchy’

Penguin Michael Joseph (PMJ) has acquired Dukes of Hazard: Harry, Andrew and Edward VIII. The Spares Who Shook the Throne by Tom Sykes, creator of The Royalist Substack and the Daily Beast’s European editor-at-large.

Publishing director Rowland White acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Jonathan Conway at Jonathan Conway Literary Agency, after a seven-way auction. The book will be published in hardback, audio and e-book on 23rd February 2027. St Martin’s Press will publish simultaneously in the US. 

In Dukes of Hazard, Tom Sykes “reveals the blockbuster inside story of how the greatest threat to the British monarchy has come not from its critics, but from three royal dukes who undermined the Crown from within” the publisher says, “tracing the path of destruction from Edward VIII (Duke of Windsor) to Andrew (the former Duke of York) to Harry (Duke of Sussex), revealing how their betrayals and personal ambitions have helped plunge the monarchy into its deepest crisis since the abdication of Edward VIII”.

The description goes on: “Drawing on reporting and insider accounts, Sykes examines the fallout from Prince Harry’s departure from royal life, Andrew’s alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal sex ring and King Charles’ disastrous mishandling of both crises. He reveals how each of these embittered, resentful royal dukes, together with their wives, Wallis Simpson, Sarah Ferguson and Meghan Markle, have inflicted damage from within.”

White said: “Tom Sykes brings rare insight and irrepressibility to his royal reporting.  And honesty. From outside of the official Palace press pack, and so free to tell the unvarnished truth, Tom’s Royalist Substack and YouTube channel have enjoyed explosive growth. In Dukes of Hazard  he lays bare the extent of the dysfunction and conflict inside the Royal Family like never before, revealing decades of failure, complicity and division with all the page-turning pace of a bestselling political thriller. I’m thrilled to be welcoming him to Penguin Michael Joseph.”

Sykes commented: “It is every author’s dream to have a penguin on the back of their book, and I’m so honoured that this book is being published by Penguin Michael Joseph. I’m delighted to be able to tell a story that the legacy UK Media has found itself unable to.”