Though he died in 2019, Jeffrey Epstein's life has cast a shadow longer than he might have imagined, and more damaging than many of his circle will have wished.
As controversy about the disgraced sex offender continues to swirl on both sides of the Atlantic, Britain’s King Charles clearly felt that the ongoing revelations about his brother Prince Andrew and his ties to Epstein were too frequent and too damaging to go unanswered.
Though Prince Andrew, who once bemoaned having been too honourable in his relationship with Epstein, made the announcement about relinquishing his title of Duke of York there is little suggestion that this was something he had willingly proffered to the King.
Rather the line in the Prince’s statement saying the move would happen following "discussions with the King" made it clear that Buckingham Palace could no longer tolerate the constant disclosures that kept this story in the headlines.
The most recent of those was last week when emails from Prince Andrew to Epstein were revealed in which the senior royal told his friend in 2011, when Epstein was already a convicted sex offender, that "it would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it. Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon".
That email did several things.
Firstly, it demonstrated a shocking lack of consideration for Epstein’s victims, as well as a shocking lack of understanding about what such associations might do to the reputation of the royal family.
Secondly, it showed to Buckingham Palace that the timeline of the friendship between the two men which the Prince had given was not accurate.
Prince Andrew had insisted in a disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019 that he had no association with Epstein after his first conviction, and that pictures of the two men together were taken when the Prince went to New York to end their friendship in person.
Thirdly, it was a reminder for Buckingham Palace if one was needed, that this is a story which will not go away.
Next week sees the publication of a book by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims.
The memoir is being published posthumously after Ms Giuffre took her own life earlier this year at the age of 41.
It will bring further embarrassment for a prince who paid a multimillion pound settlement to Ms Giuffre with no admission of liability after she took a civil case against him for sexual assault.
Recent months have also seen the publication of Andrew Lownie’s 'Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York' a book which focusses on both Prince Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson.
As the title would suggest, it is a damning assessment of both the Prince and his ex-wife who still shares a home with him in Windsor.
It paints a picture of a couple content to use their positions for personal gain, with little thought of the reputational issues that could arise.
This latest move in which the prince and his ex-wife relinquishes all their titles takes any admonishment as far as King Charles can.
Andrew will remain a prince, an automatic birthright as the second son of the late Queen.
Neither Andrew nor his former wife will be invited to Christmas celebrations at Sandringham with the royal family.
He will however remain living at Royal Lodge in Windsor, a 30-room home on which he has a lease until the late 2030s.
While this latest development might seem tokenistic to those outside of royal circles, there is no doubting the exile into which the prince has now gone.
Effectively banished from the ceremony and status into which he was born and has lived his whole life, the prince finds himself ostracised in a way few would have imagined possible.
