Royal bombshell THE KING BANISHES ANDREW

Charles has finally ruled on what to do with his disgraced brother and sister-in-law

- Judy Kean

It was an event that Prince Andrew, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, their friends, close family and even staff at their home, Royal Lodge, were looking forward to. Andrew had arranged a party for Fergie's 66th birthday and her sister Jane Ferguson had flown over from Australia for the celebrations.

Then media stories broke that revealed Andrew had lied in a BBC interview about when he severed contact with his pal, sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Emails showed they had still been in contact months after Andrew said he'd broken off their friendship and that the prince had emailed the disgraced financier, saying, “We're in this together.”

The backlash was massive and further compounded when details from Virginia Giuffre's about-to-be-released posthumous book, Nobody’s Girl, appeared in a newspaper. It quoted the late mum of three, who said she was trafficked by Epstein to Andrew when she was underage, as saying “entitled” Andrew saw sex with her as his “birthright”.

Hours before the festivities were due to get underway, Andrew pulled the plug on the party. And it wasn't long before he was taking a life-changing phone call from his brother, the King.

Then came the bombshell: Andrew announced that he was giving up his Duke of York title and other prestigious honours.

As one palace insider put it, "The party really is over for Andrew."

It’s not just Andrew, 65, who has been demoted – his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson also lost her Duchess of York title. Andrew can continue to use his prince title as he was the son of the monarch, and the couple's daughters will still be known as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.