It’s a fall from grace of ginormous proportions. Once a fun-loving prince, famed for flying helicopters in the Falklands War and seen as Queen Elizabeth’s charismatic, cheeky second child; now a disgraced former duke spending his birthday behind bars. And there are three key photos that neatly chart Andrew’s colossal transition from prince to pariah.

The first is the infamous photo of Andrew walking with Epstein in Central Park, New York, in December 2010, following the financier’s prison sentence for sexual offences involving a minor. In his disastrous Newsnight interview in November 2019 that marked the beginning of the end of life as he knew it, the former prince explained that this meeting was him telling his pal that the friendship was over – though new Epstein files bring this claim into disrepute.

In the excruciating chat with broadcaster Emily Maitlis, Andrew also denied having any recollection of meeting Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew, and suggested the infamous photo of the prince with his arm around her was fake, while denying any wrongdoing.

The final fatal image was released in January, and shows the ex-prince on all fours over a woman lying on the ground while looking directly at the camera. Both of them are clothed and it’s unclear when and where they were taken.

Those three images fatally corroded what was left of Andrew’s battered reputation and destroyed any hopes of a public return to royal life. And now, the disgraced prince finds himself locked up. There’s no underestimating just how serious the events of the past 24 hours are for the Royal Family. It’s a monumental moment: the King’s brother, who is eighth in line to the throne, is arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

It makes Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor the first senior royal in modern history to be arrested. He is of course no longer a working royal, having been stripped by the monarch of both his right to be a prince and his dukedom late last year over his association with Epstein.

This means that his royal status as brother to the king will have no bearing on the investigation. In the eyes of the law, Andrew is a commoner. While in custody, he will also receive no special treatment. He’ll have been placed in a cell in a custody suite containing just a bed and a toilet, where he will have waited until his police interview.

It’s an entirely different world to the luxuries and splendour of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

In a further sucker punch for the disgraced former prince, the arrest came on his 66th birthday. His celebrations on Thursday are a far cry from the lavish parties he’s enjoyed in the past with his family and friends.

Andrew’s actions risk leaving a stain not just on his brother’s legacy, but that of his beloved mother whose attempts at containing the scandal in the wake of his disastrous Newsnight interview have now been called into question.

The stench has also jeopardised his relationship with his beloved daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.

They’re wary about being photographed visiting their father, with sources saying they currently feel “guilty by association” and are desperate to distance themselves from the litany of allegations and claims made against both Andrew and their mother, Sarah Ferguson, in the Epstein files.

As a result it is understood that even prior to the arrest, they had no plans to visit their father at Wood Farm yesterday. And the King’s statement yesterday shows a monumental shift in how the Royal Family and Buckingham Palace are responding to the ongoing developments in his brother’s case.

Last October they had hoped that stripping Andrew of his royal titles and banishing him to Sandringham would be enough to refocus the story onto official duties conducted by the Royal Family.

As endless stomach-churning claims emerged in the latest tranche of Epstein files at the end of last month, the Palace had hoped to remain silent on the matter and adopt that well used phrase ‘never complain, never explain’.

But with growing public anger and mistrust over the documents, the Firm quite rightly recognised that silence was not going to cut it.

The Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince and Princess of Wales and then the King issued statements saying their thoughts remained with the victims. Buckingham Palace went even further and said that they would assist with any police inquiries into the King’s brother.

But the astonishing development yesterday took everyone by surprise, with Thames Valley Police not giving the monarchy a heads up that an arrest was going to be made. In releasing a statement, supported by his heir, the King sought to reassert the Royal Family’s position that they stand with the victims and are “concerned” by Andrew’s conduct.

And issuing the words just hours before he was due to attend the opening show of London Fashion Week, the King sought to assuage anyone that thought the royals would attempt to hide from the scandal.

In appearing in public just hours after the biggest scandal to rock the Royal Family took another unprecedented turn, Charles sought to steady the ship and prove to the world that he can get on with his duties without distraction.

The only move left is to formally remove Andrew from the line of succession. The king is mindful of not wasting parliamentary time, but it seems farcical that this man remains eighth in line to the throne. While it is highly unlikely that he would ever be in a situation that would necessitate his accession, there is growing public anger that he has maintained this symbolic tie to the monarchy.

Perhaps Andrew could be persuaded to voluntarily abdicate himself from the line of succession himself and help his brother mitigate the fallout. But the entitled former prince, used to privilege and luxury, is unlikely to willingly forgo his one remaining tie to his royal roots.

Without a doubt, Andrew’s arrest marks the monarchy’s lowest moment, blowing the abdication crisis of the 1930s out the water. The only saving grace for the family is that Queen Elizabeth was not around to witness the arrest of her beloved son.