Darkest of days for royals

AND THERE it was - the beginning of the end of the monarchy as we know it — the man formerly known as the Duke of York sitting cowering and stunned in the back of a car after 11 hours of police interrogation and an arrest that shocked the world.

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And thanks to this arrogant, petulant black sheep of the royal family the foundations of our once-revered monarchy are shaking — and may never recover.

Because this unprecedented arrest of the man who is still eighth in line to the throne will have repercussions that could not only bring down the House of Windsor but could forever taint individual members of the royal family. What did they know? When did they know it? Did the Queen know the extent of her favourite son’s folly? Did Charles?

No other royal in living memory has brought this kind of ignominy on the monarchy. Yes, there have been scandals, improprieties, embarrassments. There was Harry who tried to paint members of the family as racists and bigots.

But no other royal has poisoned centuries of royal history the way Andrew has ~ his friendship with a notorious paedophile, accusations of sex with teen trafficked girls, years of toxic rumours about his dodgy business deals with tyrants and despots and years of speculation about where his millions came from.

Now allegations of misconduct in public office over his friendship with Epstein to whom it’s alleged he passed on sensitive market information. Could his story be any more sordid?