Inside King Charles's looming threat to Prince Andrew

Royal editor and author Rebecca English has just revealed some shocking information about the Duke of York’s issues with the King, just before his statement to the public went out.

The statement in question claimed “in discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.”

“I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life,” he made it clear. “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

What is pertinent to mention however, is that this statement came after a tense exchange where “further action” was threatened towards the former Duke of York.

According to a report by the Daily Mail, Prince Andrew attempted to dig his heels in and showed a “startling lack of contrition”.

By the end, it turned “intolerable” for the monarch to manage.

What is also pertinent to mention is that in order to ‘forcibly’ remove titles was something on Parliament could do and according to Ms English “he has never wished to take up its valuable time and resources in dealing with the matter.”

Still, last week it became clear that “a raft of options were open to him if he did not fall on his sword.”

She also noted “Some have questioned whether the act of making Queen Elizabeth's second son simply set aside his titles is adequate in the circumstances.”

“But sources say that to involve Parliament when it is dealing with huge domestic and economic challenges, not to mention major global security issues, could have been seen as a waste of resources and taken months – or even a year – to conclude.”

So “forcing Andrew's hand would bring about the same result far more swiftly,” she added before signing off.