Andrew and the Epstein scandal: the fall of Elizabeth II's favourite son and the impact on the British monarchy

While in 1982, at his mother's behest, he was the only royal to take part as a young Royal Navy officer in the Falkland-Malvinas war, against Argentina, after which he was rewarded with decorations and commendations.

It looks like the beginning of a glittering cursus honorem. It will remain a fleeting moment of glory.

Recruited as an active member of the House of Windsor, he obtained the title of Duke of York, that - always sported in black and white - of 'His Royal Highness' and official representative roles in the 'Firm'.

In the meantime, he was noted for serial flirting and gossip, before marrying the no less chatty Sarah Ferguson, known as Fergie or Sarah the Redhead because of the colour of her hair, who remained by his side even after the divorce: as a life partner and accomplice in all kinds of misadventures.

The couple - protagonists of a saga in a minor tone compared to that of the ill-fated marriage between Charles and Diana - gave birth to two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, who are still princesses in the service of the dynasty.

So they separate, in the wake of multiple mutual betrayals.

These are the years in which they both come into contact with Jeffrey Epstein, an American fixer classified by the State of New York in 2011 sex offender of the highest level (3 out of 3), only to die in prison in New York in 2019.

A character who had been around far longer than admitted, until the explosion of the scandal that led first to the exclusion of Andrea from any public role. And then by the belated cancellation of any surviving royal title decided by Charles (also towards Sarah and with the support of the heir to the throne William) only after the death of the matriarch Elizabeth.

An endgame sealed by the relentless revelations of the Epstein files published in the US, including explicit emails and photos of the former Duke on all fours.

Real moral condemnations - whatever the outcome of the judicial investigations - for a man reduced to the almost common rank of 'Mr Andrew Mountbatten Windsor' and crushed by the now-proven lies of the boomerang interview with the BBC with which he had trumpetingly believed he could rehabilitate himself in 2019.

Lies that have already been denounced by Virginia Giuffre, a victim of the ring of girls exploited by Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell for her own benefit or that of rich and powerful friends, who had accused the former prince of having sexually taken advantage of her when she was 17 years old; before suing, snatching a £12 million out-of-court settlement paid by Elizabeth and Charles and finally dying by suicide in Australia at the age of 41.

But also unmasked by shocking biographies such as the recent one by Andrew Lownie, in which the former duke is portrayed as a debauchee obsessed with sex and privilege; as well as an unscrupulous hunter of consultancies, useful contacts, easy money to spend in quantity. As in the case of the missions to Asia carried out between 2001 and 2011 as a commercial testimonial for the British government, which have now earned him the suspicion of abuse of office by the investigators of the Thames Valley Police: for having shared with Epstein (and other businessmen in their circle) confidential information, usable for profit, gathered in the exercise of his functions.