SARAH VINE: The Andrew snowball thunders on, flattening all in its path… The question is: Can the Royal Family outrun it?

Another day, another Prince Andrew shocker. Yesterday, Emily Maitlis – who famously conducted that disastrous Newsnight interview with him back in 2019 – sensationally claimed Prince William had threatened to remove the titles of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie unless they pressured their disgraced father to move out of Royal Lodge.

The onus was on the girls, apparently, to close the deal – on pain of royal demotion.

Straight away this seemed a little far-fetched to me. I’m sure Prince William is just as keen as anyone else to sort out this mess – but the idea that he would threaten his cousins like that seems very unlikely, not to mention distinctly out of character.

Quite apart from the fact that it’s extremely unchivalrous and unfair (it’s not their fault their father is an entitled, thick-headed brat), he’s a Windsor, not a Borgia. What next, horses heads in people’s beds?

So, it didn’t surprise me when Kensington Palace quickly issued a categorical denial – but it was too late. The allegation was running wild all over social media, adding to all the other rumours and speculation of the past few weeks.

The Prince Andrew snowball thunders on, collecting all sorts of odds and sods along the way and flattening all in its path. The real question now is can the Royal Family outrun it? Or does Andrew run the risk of engulfing them all with the scale and seriousness of his ill-conduct, proven or alleged?

If you had asked me that question a few months ago I would have said that the King’s biggest challenge – apart from his health, of course – were the Sussexes.

But now, following the publication of the Andrew Lownie book, unflinching in its forensic condemnation of the King’s younger brother, together with the posthumous memoir of his alleged victim Virginia Giuffre, Harry and Meghan’s antics, distasteful as they may be, are starting to seem like the least of his problems.

Andrew is essentially the Del Boy of the Royal Family, always metaphorically flogging something or other out of the back of a van, or in his case a gilded carriage

Of course, the Andrew thing was always going to come to a head sooner or later. For years now there has been so much speculation surrounding him, not just in terms of his sexual conduct and his long-standing friendships with Jeffrey Epstein and other less-than-salubrious characters, but also his business dealings and financial affiliations.

Andrew is essentially the Del Boy of the Royal Family, always metaphorically flogging something or other out of the back of a van, or in his case a gilded carriage. That photograph, recently resurfaced, of Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein, snapped in the garden of Royal Lodge in 2006 which the three of them visited ahead of Beatrice’s 18th birthday party, says it all really: two are in jail, one killed himself or was murdered in jail.

If it’s true that you can judge a man by the company he keeps, then it’s not a very flattering picture of a man who is supposed to be a prince of the realm.

Despite all this, there are those who believe he should remain above scrutiny, that he – and his ex-wife – should be left alone.

They argue that he served his country honourably in the Falklands, that he is teetotal (and always was), that his only crime in relation to his dealings with Epstein was stupidity and dishonesty, coupled perhaps with greed for money, all temptations which many in similar positions of authority frequently succumb to. Why should Andrew be punished when so many aren’t?

There is some merit in that argument. Andrew himself has never been convicted of any wrongdoing, and he denies all criminal accusations against him. But when it comes to slack, Andrew has been cut an awful lot of it over the years, not least by his late mother, whose indulgence of her favourite son may have contributed to the problem.

Perhaps if someone had reined him in sooner, we might never have reached this point.

As for the preponderance of stupidity, dishonesty and greed in the general populace, that’s undeniable. But don’t we expect better of our royals?

Indeed, arguably his privilege and birthright ought to have rendered him immune to the enticements of a man such as Epstein.

The fact that Andrew was clearly and evidently in so deep with the disgraced financier – even after his conviction for paedophilia and sex trafficking – is, I’m afraid, a very clear indictment of his character. He could have perfectly reasonably entertained a relationship with Epstein on the basis that he was a powerful, ambitious and evil man whom he couldn’t very well ignore. Many who find themselves in positions of diplomacy are obliged to do such things from time to time.

But there was no need to accept his hospitality to the extent to which he (and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson) did, nor did he need to become so closely intertwined with Epstein that he messaged him to say they would continue to ‘play together’, whatever that means.

Whichever way you cut this, Andrew and Epstein were friends, mates, muckers. As he himself said in one of his emails to the late financier after that photograph emerged of himself with Virginia Giuffre in Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home: ‘we are in this together’. So I don’t think it’s fair to say that all this is just a vicious republican-fuelled witch hunt, and that Andrew and Sarah Ferguson should be left alone on the basis that they’ve suffered enough, what with losing the use of their titles and now, in all likelihood, access to Royal Lodge.

Whichever way you cut this, Andrew and Epstein were friends, mates, muckers

If the monarchy stands for anything in the modern world, it stands for stability and moral courage. Its members should set an example, not conduct themselves like drunken businessmen at a weekend convention in Las Vegas. It’s just not on.

Once again, Andrew has not been convicted of anything concrete. But the circumstantial evidence against him is, frankly, overwhelming, starting with the fact that he – or his late mother – paid off Virginia Giuffre to the tune of £12million. That, if you ask me, was an idiotic decision which only served to strengthen the case against him, since it was interpreted almost universally as an admission of guilt.

Add all the emails, plus that murky business with Chinese spies – and it all points to one unavoidable conclusion: the man is not fit to be a prince. He may be one by birth, but he certainly isn’t one by nature, and that’s what makes his position untenable.

I don’t doubt this is all extremely distressing for him and Sarah Ferguson, and for the girls, Beatrice and Eugenie.

Despite it all, and despite the mountains of toe-curling evidence against them, I can’t help feeling sorry for them.

Their entire world is collapsing around them, and that is a very frightening place to be, whoever you happen to be.

It may well be that, in time, more will be revealed about Epstein and Maxwell and that whole circle that will mitigate the ex-Yorks’ part in it all, and maybe even turn the spotlight on others. But for now, they have no choice, and no cards left to play.

King Charles is not a ruthless or vengeful man, but if Andrew continues to push back – as he has reportedly done by demanding two separate residences at Windsor – he will leave the Monarch with very little choice but to use what levers he has at his disposal and act decisively to protect the throne.

I don’t think many people want that. I am certainly not one of those who want to see Andrew – or for that matter, Sarah – humiliated, imprisoned, destitute or homeless. But whether it happens now is up to Andrew. Charles will not – cannot – allow him to bring down the Royal Family.

As for Prince William, the last thing he wants is to inherit this mess. He will, if he has to, do what’s necessary.