It couldn’t go on any longer.
The decision by King Charles to strip his brother of his titles and honours had become inevitable, but still came as a shock.
He and Prince William will now hope a line has been drawn under the whole affair.
But Andrew and Fergie’s future looks bleak.
He is being turfed out of Royal Lodge and will live in exile at Sandringham, the royal estate in Norfolk.
At least here he can enjoy a hunting, shooting and fishing lifestyle which will occupy his time.
He will certainly have a lot of contemplating to do and reflection on how far he has fallen.
As for Sarah Ferguson, her life might now be totally different and she might decide to move abroad, we simply don’t know.
At last the King ad Queen have made it clear that the main priority is to show sympathy with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, something Andrew has failed to do.
The full bombshell statement read: “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.
“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
Next year I will notch up forty years as a royal reporter and commentator and I’ve seen my fair share of crises for the monarchy.
The worst was in 1997 when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, bringing thousands of angry people onto the streets.
And in 1992 the much-loved Queen Elizabeth II called that year her “annus horribilis” after Charles and Diana and Andrew and Fergie both separated, Princess Anne divorced and Windsor Castle nearly burnt down.
But the Prince Andrew scandal ran those desperate times a close third, creating a horrible year for King Charles.
Day after day there have been new revelations about the relationship between the Yorks and American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison, reportedly by his own hand.
The bombshells have come thick and fast.
From emails released by Epstein’s estate in the US, from British author Andrew Lownie, who spent four years researching his scathing book Entitled : The Rise and Fall of the House of York, and from the posthumous memoir of trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was coerced into having sex with Andrew in three different countries.
Spendthrift Sarah, a woman incapable of staying financially solvent, allegedly took thousands from Epstein and contacted him offering support even after he had been convicted of his crimes.
And all this at a time when the King is battling cancer, his daughter-in-law Catherine has also been recovering from the disease and his younger son Harry continues to cause trouble.
So I’m not surprised that Charles, encouraged by his older son William, has finally snapped and demanded an end to the debacle.
The King is not a vengeful man and he’s bent over backwards to be fair to his brother, who has never been convicted of any offence.
He doesn’t want him to be homeless or be sent into exile abroad, but his patience ran out after it was revealed Andrew was only prepared to leave his mansion if he and Fergie were provided with one new home each on the Windsor Estate.
Andrew was willing to move into Harry’s old house Frogmore Cottage while Sarah wanted the house William and Kate are about to leave, Adelaide Cottage.
Now it seems they will have neither.
Charles didn’t want to strip Andrew and Fergie of their Duke and Duchess titles, but his hand was forced.
Above all, I’m told the King realised that if he didn’t act, he would be leaving a festering problem for William to deal with when he becomes King, and the whole future of the monarchy could be threatened.
It really was that stark a choice.
Recent opinion polls show that although support for the royals is still strong, their popularity has declined, and Republicans have been having a field day.
The ongoing saga was deflecting from the day to day work of the institution, and causing rifts between its members.
On a trip to Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire, a republican heckler shouted at Charles, “How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?” followed by, “Have you asked the police to cover up for Andrew?”
Later that day the King laid a wreath a the UK’s first memorial honouring LGBTQ personnel who served in the armed forces.
But the next day’s headlines were all about the heckler and Andrew.
The week leading up to the departure announcement became more farcical and fractious by the day.
First hapless Palace officials tipped off the BBC to be outside Royal Lodge when the King returned home from his trip to see The Pope in the Vatican.
The rumour mill went into overdrive and dozens of journalists, photographers and film crews scrambled to get there, with a helicopter hovering overhead.
No-one knows what was going to happen – Andrew and Fergie performing a mea culpa at their front gate perhaps? – but soon everyone was being told to stand down and the drama fizzled out.
Next Emily Maitlis, the former BBC journalist who famously interviewed Andrew in 2019 when he denied ever meeting Giuffre, broadcast a rumour about Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Maitlis claimed on her podcast that Prince William had met the sisters and threatened to remove their titles if they did not persuade their father to leave Royal Lodge.
She told her social media followers that camera crews had assembled outside Andrew’s home after Palace guidance.
“There was a question over whether there had been, earlier in the day, a meeting between William and and the Princesses saying you guys have to get your dad out or otherwise we will start re-examining the state of your own titles.
“They are at the moment allowed to be princesses but there was pressure put on them to say this is going to happen.
“Obviously you can see why Andrew as a father would want to keep their daughters happy and keep their titles in place come what may.”
The King and William have always been fond of Bea and Eugenie, and their husbands, and regard them as innocent victims.
A friend said they felt well supported by Charles and William, and were expected to join the rest of the royals at Sandringham in Norfolk for Christmas.
But the fact that such a vicious rumour surfaced at all highlights the toxic atmosphere the whole sorry mess is producing, creating problems far beyond just getting Andrew out of his home.
I’m told that Bea and Eugenie are understandably “devastated” by their parents’ fall from grace, and are now facing difficult choices.
Should they be seen in public with their parents?
Should they spend any time with them over the Christmas period?
And should they get involved in any further royal events such as Buckingham Palace garden parties?
A friend told me : “They are absolutely distraught and torn between their natural love for their parents and the obvious truth that Andrew and Sarah have been exposed for what they are.
“The late Queen always said that Sarah was a good mother, and the girls are testament to that.
“Fergie always said she was inseparable from her daughters and called them ‘the tripod’ as they stood together
“But the fact is they are now happily married mums in their thirties with careers and families of their own to consider.
“Eugenie is involved with ant-slavery charities and is acutely aware she might not be taken seriously because of the allegations against her father.
“Both Bea and Eugenie have husbands who are successful in their own businesses and they won’t want to be tainted either.
“The time has possibly come for them to distance themselves for a while, at least in public until this all dies down.
“There will only be some sort of redemption when Andrew and Sarah have lost all their privileges and shown some contrition for their actions.”
When the story broke that Andy and Fergie wanted TWO homes to move out, a blame game began between her spokesman and the Palace.
Sarah’s mouthpiece said the offer of Frogmore and Adelaide Cottages was made by the Palace in May, but turned down by the Yorks, who were then determined to stay in Royal Lodge.
That claim was soon shot down by the Palace who said no offer was ever made, but refused to comment on whether negotiations were ongoing.
One man who wants to keep up the pressure on the beleaguered pair is Andrew Lownie.
He has now revealed he has lots more information about the couple, which he will be putting in an updated paperback version of his book.
Speaking on various TV channels he said the royal family will “throw Andrew under the bus” because of the “reputation damage” he has caused.
And he even claimed there was a “good chance” Andrew and Sarah might even end up in prison.
“I do think the authorities will want to pursue some investigations and they might bring charges” he added.
Even the late Queen is now being dragged through the mud, with some commentators saying she was too soft on her favourite son and let him get away with disreputable behaviour for too long.
“Andrew was brazen” said Lownie.
He would go on an official visit to Thailand, paid for by the taxpayer, and he would bring his mistress with him to sit in the car at official functions.
“Then he would go through forty prostitutes in four days.
“Clearly there were a lot of people enabling him and protecting him and that included, I’m afraid, the Queen.
“This problem should have been dealt with years ago and the Palace only have themselves to blame.”
So what happens now?
As MPs question how much their Royal Lodge deal was worth and whether they should have paid more than a peppercorn rent, and US congressmen urge Andrew to testify before them, what will the couple do next?
Fergie has been dropped from the Loose Women TV show, and other contracts are drying up as she is commercially unviable.
But if she is driven into a corner with no source of income might she be tempted to write yet another autobiography and bring more problems for the House of Windsor?
And what is Prince William planning?
The body language between him and Andrew at the funeral of the Duchess of Kent was obvious for all to see.
Andrew tried to engage him in conversation and William ignored him.
Friends say he finds his uncle “beyond hideous” and with his own problems with brother Harry, he is in no mood to give Andrew an inch.
Behind the scenes I’m too wife Catherine is totally supportive of William’s determination to “clean up” the stables before he ascends the throne.
“Kate is understandably angry with both Andrew and Harry as she and William have been left with the whole weight of the monarchy on their shoulders” a friend told me.
“Their job is hard enough as it is without members of the family making everything ten times worse but that’s what’s happened.
“They needed the support of their relations but have been badly let down and now it all rests on them and in the future their children.”
At least William and Kate will not be bumping into Andrew and Fergie in Windsor.
The decision to send him to Sandringham means he really is in exile.
For a man who came home from the Falklands conflict a war hero it is a staggering fall from grace – a modern Greek tragedy.
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