'Our hearts are broken.' That is what I wrote in these pages on the day the Queen died, in September 2022, and I think we all felt it deeply.
How her heart would be broken now by the arrest of her beloved son, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
For the late Queen, who always did her best to uphold the highest moral standards and who worked so hard in the service of her nation and people, the knowledge of his ignominy would have been too hard to bear - as would the inescapable fact that he has dragged not only the Windsor name, but her own reputation as monarch, through the mud.
How much she knew about the details and depth of his relationship with the late Jeffrey Epstein, we shall probably never truly know. Understanding the way the Palace operates, I have no doubt that she was deliberately shielded from a great deal of it. But she must have been aware of it to some extent.
A Royal Blind Spot and Troubling Loyalty
Perhaps like many she just couldn't bring herself to believe that he would be so arrogant and so stupid as to be taken in by Epstein. Or that he would be so lacking in moral fibre as to overlook the glaring signs of the man's debauchery to the point where he invited this monster, and his perverted madam Ghislaine Maxwell, into her homes.
Andrew, it seems, was her blind spot, and he may yet prove to be the monarchy's undoing.
Almost every family has a child like Andrew, the one who behaves appallingly and somehow always seems to get away with it, much to the frustration and fury of siblings, who are often far more diligent - and yet get very little credit for it.
For the King, Andrew is very much his mother's prodigal son, the favoured child who could do no wrong, even when he manifestly did. And now she is gone, it falls to him as the head of the family - and the nation - to bear the burden of Andrew's egregious misjudgments.
Charles's Long Road to the Throne
It is, in many ways, deeply unfair. Like his mother, Charles has worked so hard to earn his stripes as monarch. And unlike his idiot middle brother, he has never taken any of his status and privilege for granted - or, for that matter abused it, as Andrew seems to have done.
He's just not that sort of man. And neither, for that matter, are the Queen's other children, Princess Anne, arguably the hardest working royal of them all, and Prince Edward.
But the King is the person with whom the buck now stops. He spent 50 years carefully building his legacy before finally ascending to the throne, and now Andrew's greed, lies, moral corruption and rampant stupidity threaten to eclipse all that.
Not that he didn't warn them: back when Andrew was given the role of Trade Envoy in 2001, the then-Prince of Wales expressed grave misgivings about his suitability for the role. He feared Andrew would treat it as a social opportunity - or worse - rather than a serious job, and is supposed to have quipped that he would use the role mainly to 'play golf and chase women'.
A Monarch Driven by Intellectual and Charitable Passions
But perhaps even he couldn't have imagined the depths to which Andrew would allegedly sink in pursuit of his own pleasures - possibly because he himself never had the time or the inclination for such divertissements.
Like his late mother, the King has always been a rather serious person. His passions have been primarily intellectual, from his early interest in the environment and animal welfare to his fascination with architecture and urban planning; to his efforts to help provide opportunities for young people via the Prince's Trust (now, of course, the King's Trust) which he founded in 1976.
These passions have occasionally led to moments of misjudgment: one thinks of the infamous 'black spider' letters to government ministers and his peculiar obsession with alternative medicine. But in the main his contribution has been a hugely positive one, not least in the ways in which he has sought to modernise the monarchy, making it relevant for a new generation while also preserving the traditions that really matter.
Where Andrew has shown himself to be selfish and self-serving, the King is fundamentally altruistic in his outlook, always looking at ways to improve life for others (the King's Trust, for example, has helped over a million young people achieve their ambitions; which is no mean feat).
The only time he ever behaved selfishly was towards Princess Diana; especially during their marriage - blinded as he was by his love for Camilla. It was not his finest hour but no one could deny the strength of his feelings for the now-Queen; and who among us can say they've never acted rashly under the influence of Cupid's arrow?
In any other circumstances the King would be enjoying the fruits of his labours; of years of diligence and dedication to important causes; and if not exactly resting on his laurels then at least allowing himself the smallest sense of a job well done. Let us not forget that he has also been ill with cancer. He deserves some respite.
Instead, he finds himself having to manage the biggest scandal to befall the Royal Family in generations. If the police do press charges against Andrew; and the case goes to trial and he is convicted; the late Queen's favoured son could well end up spending time at his own brother's pleasure.
I'm no historian; but I'm pretty sure the last time that happened was in 1477 when Edward IV imprisoned his younger brother George in the Tower of London - although; in fairness; that was because he had been plotting against him; and not because he had been hanging out with financiers and allegedly sending them sensitive government information.
A Defining Moment for the King's Legacy
Cruel as it may seem, how the King responds now to this crisis will define his own place in history. When Princess Diana died, his mother made one of her rare errors of judgment by failing initially to gauge the depth of emotion and grief felt by the British public.
She remained at Balmoral with her grandsons, and her silence was interpreted by many as a lack of compassion. Actually, she was just trying to be there for William and Harry, but in the feverish atmosphere of the moment, it didn't come across like that.
Her delayed response very nearly triggered a constitutional crisis. Eventually, she did speak directly to the nation, delivering a moving address: 'What I say to you now, as your Queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.' It silenced her critics and was later seen by many as a positive turning point.
I fear the King now finds himself in an analogous situation. Because yes, he has stripped Andrew of his titles, and yes, he has issued a written statement.
But it is all rather too formal and at one remove. Just as his mother came to realise that the moment required something more, so the King - who found himself being heckled yesterday during an engagement at London Fashion week - must see that growing public anger requires him to engage on a personal lever.
Until and unless the King addresses the nation directly on this issue, it will eat away at his legacy, his reputation and very likely his sanity.
There is no time to waste.