The King could never forgive Andrew - and now there is no one to protect him

In a slimmed-down monarchy under King Charles and Prince William there will be little room for royal hangers-on.

The King and his elder son and heir have always taken a more ruthless approach towards Prince Andrew than the late Queen did . But now the modernising pair have wielded the axe after it became clear that Andrew and Fergie’s friendship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, their relationship with alleged Chinese spies, and their controversial money-making schemes, were all part of a scandal that was never going away. It risked – and still risks – undermining the future of the monarchy.

William, who has privately taken an even more uncompromising view than his father, was involved in the behind-the-scenes talks that resulted in Andrew agreeing to stop using his Duke