Ian Collins tackles what he calls the monarchy’s biggest crisis since the abdication after Prince Andrew is arrested at Sandringham and police continue searching Royal Lodge. Collins asks whether this is simply another royal scandal or the “beginning of the end” for the institution now Queen Elizabeth II is gone and King Charles is facing sustained reputational damage from Andrew, Harry and years of royal turmoil.

Former Palace insider Dickie Arbiter puts the Andrew affair “on a plane” with the abdication for sheer constitutional and reputational jeopardy, but argues Charles is doing what he can while a police investigation is live. Arbiter insists the King cannot go further than carefully worded statements without risking accusations of interference, and says the monarchy has survived by evolving for centuries though it must modernise further and become more transparent.

Historian and author Andrew Lownie brands the moment a “Me Too” reckoning for the Royal Family, warning that survival depends on full candour: what was known, when it was known, and who acted (or didn’t). Lownie frames the crisis as a potential turning point that could define Charles’s reign either as proof the monarchy is accountable under the law, or as evidence of an establishment that protected “bad apples” until forced to act.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor denies any wrongdoing.

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