Scandal to rival Profumo

Epstein affair will not go away for Andy and Mandy

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It was The Seven Days That Battered Britain, a week that threatened to bring down British society as we know it. And the danger is not over yet.

There is more to come, as the horrific Epstein files in the US cascade fresh revelations about wrongdoing in high places.

New emails exposing the involvement of former Prince Andrew have further embarrassed the Royal Family.

Anger among Labour MPs about their Prime Minister's fatal admission of knowingly favouring the “best pal” of a convicted nonce is matched by a growing sense of public outrage.

Never before has the biggest political scandal of the age broken simultaneously with the final, humiliating public downfall of a top member of the Royal Family.

It is a melodrama that might yet turn into a Greek tragedy, with the demise not just of the premier of the day, but the party he leads.

The pace has been breathtaking. Only yesterday, former Prince Andrew was on his horse in Windsor Great Park, waving shamelessly to photographers.

Today, plain Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is exiled to humble Marsh Farm on the King’s private estate in Sandringham, stripped of his titles and shamed by revelations from the Epstein files.

Gone from public life, but not from public gaze. The latest Epstein expose, in an email from Epstein's convicted girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, appears to confirm that it is indeed Andrew's arm round 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, who accuses the former royal of sexually abusing her.

The litany of misery goes on. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, elected only 16 months ago with a landslide Labour majority, is on the brink of eviction from Downing Street - by his own MPs.

Even the 24-hour news cycle can barely keep pace. Westminster had the most turbulent week that anyone could remember, overshadowing even royal scandal.