MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR

THEY SAY THE English upper classes have two clearly visible traits which have kept them on top for centuries – they are reckless and, more importantly, they are ruthless.

Nothing demonstrates this more visibly than the public cancellation of the King’s brother, the Royal formally known as Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

“This is the modern equivalent of being hanged, drawn and quartered,” says Royal watcher Ulrich Brothelpianist, whose latest book, We Will Survive chronicles the turbulent history of the British Royal Family over a millenium. “He is paying for his perceived recklessness. And he is being paid with ruthlessness. It has a Stalinist feel to it. You strip a man of everything he is or was, and he becomes as non-person, not to be mentioned, soon to be forgotten. Andrew who? Next they’ll edit photographs, or just photo shop them, and Uncle Andrew will slowly melt into obscurity, hopefully forgotten, his own private gulag. And remember all you Republicans out there, if the King can do this to his brother, think about what he could do to you, if you annoy him. The blood of the Plantagenets and the Tudors, and all those Germans, runs in Charles. You don’t stay on top for a thousand years without being ruthless when it’s necessary.”