Editorial: The grisly fall of the former Prince Andrew, a man who was well aware of his inherited status - and prepared to trade on it

The fall of ​Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is almost like a biblical parable.

​The former Duke of York was fully aware of – and prepared to trade on – his inherited status. Days ago he still thought he could control his retreat from such privilege, but suddenly found on Thursday that he could not.

The disgraced Mr Windsor now faces a future of anonymity, based in a property on the Sandringham estate, funded by the king.

This grisly saga has damaged the royal family. It is fair to note that no crime is proven against Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, a man who served his country with distinction in the Falklands War. His years on royal duties included many visits to Northern Ireland, in which he was typically good humoured and engaged cheerfully with the public at ceremonies.

We do not know the nature or scale of his reported wrongdoing. Was he merely a selfish playboy, in the long tradition of such exploitative rich men, but not guilty of illegal behaviour? That he lied in the 2019 BBC interview about when he ended his association with Jeffrey Epstein inevitably heightens suspicions that some his conduct might have gone beyond mere partying with other decadent folk.

There are also alarming suggestions that Mr Windsor pursued personal enrichment as a trade envoy for his nation, and might even have compromised national security while networking with the ruthless Chinese.

We do know that King Charles has seen fit to banish his brother socially in a way that is unprecedented in royalty in modern peacetime. It is a mercy that the late Queen did not live to see the fate of her much loved second son.

Meanwhile, the current king and queen were – amidst the tragic memory of the late, troubled Virginia Giuffre – right to say in the royal statement on Andrew that their “utmost sympathy” is with victims of “all forms of abuse”.