The royal family in the UK is having its very foundations shaken by both the controversial departure of Prince Harry and Meghan and now startling new revelations which compromise Prince Andrew even further, since his “car crash” interview with BBC, over his alleged relationship with a sex-trafficked child prostitute working for Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew had always denied any link whatsoever with the then named Virginia Roberts who was in just 17 when the main allegation – that Epstein flew her to London in March 2001 for her to have sex with the British royal – was brought against him. Central to that allegation was a photo taken by Ghislaine Maxwell in her London home on the same night in question which Andrew claims is fake.

Roberts claims that she was forced into the act by Epstein and Maxwell and has gone on the record to talk about the intimate details of the incident, but her case have been light on witnesses or those who can corroborate her allegations. Until now.

Her shocking claims are that Maxwell and Epstein were running a high class sex trafficking organisation which targeted powerful, influential individuals, which some might speculate was part of a Mossad run ‘honey trap’ – a blackmail ring which made Epstein hugely powerful and in a position to ask from the same targets favours, or for highly valuable information which could support its agenda.

In just a few days in mid February, Prince Andrew already feeble case which he was clinging on to – that he had no link whatsoever with Roberts – was shattered though, which in itself raises a number of questions over who is protecting the British royal. And at what price?

First off came the accusation by a palace security guard in London who has challenged Andrew’s claim to be in another part of the country (far from the capital) on the night of the alleged sexual incident. According to the security officer, Andrew returned to Buckingham Palace in the early hours and shouted at the top of his voice at the palace gates for them to be opened.

But far more damning is the testimony of a telecoms man who was employed by Epstein on his private Caribbean island who a British tabloid interviewed days later, who identifies both Prince Andrew and Roberts being intimate with one another and how she appeared to be like a child “hiding behind an adult” sometime around 2001 or thereafter.

There is nothing quite so powerful in a legal case which Roberts (now Giuffre) is preparing than eye witnesses who can stand in the witness box. And the emergence of Steve Scully will be seen as a massive blow to Andrew’s claims now. The FBI too will find it hard to ignore Scully’s allegations.

Or will it?

The notion supported by conspiracy theorists that Andrew is somehow being protected just got ratcheted up ten fold. The FBI interviewed Scully earlier but Prince Andrew’s name, curiously, was never mentioned.

Given that Epstein and Maxwell were almost certainly being bankrolled by Mossad and that Trump’s relations with Israel are unfathomable one has to ask if there is a deliberate plot in the US to not take Virginia Giuffre’s allegations seriously. Add to that Britain and the US forging stronger links post Brexit with a new trade deal in the air and Trump’s double state visit to the Queen and a reasonable question would be is there a ruse on both sides of the Atlantic to keep Andrew out of an FBI investigation? Or perhaps more worryingly, is Andrew part of a bargaining chip from Trump’s side to nail a more advantageous trade deal which benefits America more, given Trump’s style of blackmailing those he wished to secure deals with, which we have seen with other countries he tackles?

It is hard to imagine how many days left Andrew has as a British royal and a possible heir to the throne, given how tough the Queen was with Meghan and Harry, both stripped of their ‘royal’ titles as they bolt to the US to shamelessly cash in their fame. Andrew may well have to flee the UK and find a Caribbean island himself to escape the reach of both the FBI and Giuffre’s lawyers. But for the moment, he seems secure in the UK, protected by that oh-so special relationship between Trump and Buckingham palace. But for how long?