Andrew has hit the royal tipping point

Will Hutton

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The institution suffering the most existential threat from the Jeffrey Epstein papers is not within or part of the American political system: it is the British monarchy.

It has survived unscathed the 1936 abdication crisis and the divorce and death of Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1990s, but the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor affair trumps them all. It threatens to shatter the carefully constructed story on which the appeal and legitimacy of the House of Windsor depends.

Universal suffrage and massive social change were potentially the twin death knells of the monarchy as Britain entered the 20th century. Political and constitutional status should be earned through votes rather than ascribed through birth. In 1911, the Parliament Act stripped the House of Lords of its veto powers; Britain's bicameral parliament of two equal houses - one hereditary - was dead. How long would it be before the monarchy followed suit?

But by redefining itself as an extended family committed to public service with only a performative constitutional role, and playing down the hereditary nature of their legitimacy, the royals have dodged the bullet. The Duke of Windsor and the Prince of Wales loving the wrong woman were understandable crises that could hit any family; many could sympathise. The royal family was proving it was as human as everyone else.

Elizabeth II's obvious decency and unflagging commitment to duty, while symbolically ensuring that her whole family joined her on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, sealed the deal. She was our queen, certainly; but she was also a wife, mother and sister. Prince Philip was the perfect foil: a consort, father and prince - but never a co-monarch.