No king, no prince, no palaces!

Considering the weight of the evidence against him in the Epstein scandal, Prince Andrew should consider himself lucky that his punishment in Britain will consist of having his title as prince removed and being made to move out of his official royal residence (to another luxurious royal property on the Sandringham estate, where he will live in comfort with a royal subsidy).

He has also been stripped of his final honorary military title, after having lost the rest of them in 2022, after a civil case for sexual abuse was brought against him in the US. That case was settled with an out-of-court payment, with Andrew never admitting guilt. Nor has his brother, King Charles, ever formally conceded any of the allegations against Andrew.

The reason for this seems simple: if a case against him is admitted, Andrew might have to be extradited to the United States and formally prosecuted. He should be.

There is one honour that has not been “stripped” from Andrew – his hereditary right to rule. The former prince is still 8th in line to the throne. Just a big fire at dinner-time at Buckingham Palace, and our official head of state and the Church of England would be this pariah.

This is patently ridiculous — as is the continued existence of the British monarchy. Send Andrew to America, send the rest of the Mountbatten-Windsors to apply for council housing, and give the Sandringham Estate over to accommodation for asylum seekers.