Inside the shock arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor: 'Nothing will ever be the same, royal expert Emily Andrews

Panic at the Palace! King Charles should resign! Off with his head!

Not to mention some of those memes doing the rounds on social media of the now-infamous car shot of a red-eyed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being driven out of a Norfolk police station on his 66th birthday.

From pizzas and 'Worst birthday ever' to a copy of the picture even being hung in the Louvre with a card reading, 'He's Sweating Now 2026' (pranksters appeared to have placed it in the museum). It's all pretty grim.

I confess, perhaps with some naivety, that I was shocked by Andrew's arrest. Covering the royals for the last 15 years or so, perhaps I've become so used to their entitlement that subconsciously I even thought that, much as it should, the law didn't apply to them.

Well, it most clearly and thankfully does. Of course, Andrew denies any wrongdoing so maybe it's too soon to have a clear view on what all of this means for the monarchy.

For some, it's business as usual and nothing will change as this is all down to one man's alleged outrageous behaviour, not the Crown. The King has put as much distance as he can between the institution (him) and his brother (Andrew) with a carefully-worded statement to the effect that the law has to run its course.

For others, nothing will ever be the same and it could be (and should be) the end of hereditary monarchy - in which our head of state is determined by birthright.

Some also feel there are questions to be answered by everyone – from senior courtiers, police officers and even the late Queen - about who knew what and when, and how all of this was allowed to play out.

Where you stand on the issue probably depends on your feelings for the Royal Family generally. For me, I think it's somewhere in the middle.

Something has shifted. Politicians have stood up in the House of Commons and denounced a royal (‘a man on a constant self-aggrandising and self-enriching hustle') and police have conducted an intensive search of a royal residence (Royal Lodge). There has been less deference, heckling on charity visits, more questions, more demands for transparency over royal finances.

And, perhaps most damaging of all, mockery - mockery of an institution that should be the symbol of everything that is good and valued about the UK.

Our crown jewels, our history, our palaces, freshly mown grass, afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches and scones with jam and cream.

And ultimately, that's pretty grim for all of us.

In other royal news...

I have to salute the Queen's PR team. Amid a deluge of bad news, they managed to knock Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor out of the headlines with the most winsome of pictures: Queen Camilla and Paddington Bear.

Of course, the late Queen Elizabeth II famously starred with Paddington in a top-secret comedy sketch for her Platinum Jubilee - so it was only fitting that an actor from Paddington The Musical should be invited to perform at Windsor Castle for the final of the BBC's 500 Words children's writing competition.

Camilla has long championed literature and reading - and hinted that she is also partial to a marmalade sandwich!

This feature first appeared in Woman magazine. Subscribe now and get your first 6 issues for £1.