Is it correct?

More Andrew-related opinion 🙀 [that's a cat sighing]. The Times leader on Saturday discussed the saga and included the phrase "It is correct that the couple's daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice, caught up in this drama through little fault of their own, remain princesses." What? Are they 8yos, crying themselves to sleep at night if they are no longer princesses? These are mature women in their late 30s who contribute little or nothing to British public life and the only justification for their grandiose titles is the technicality of being the offspring of a person who is the son of a monarch.

But my issue isn't about these two women - I couldn't care less about them. My problem is with my newspaper. It's reasonable to expect reasoned argument from the leader writers. "It is correct" is stated as though it's fact. It's the kind of specious assertion I'd expect in the Sun, Express or Guardian. Not from the erudite journal of record. You need to say why it is correct.

And "through little fault of their own"? Little? Not "no fault". Is the Times implying that these young women could have had some influence on their father's behaviour?

Honestly, if they have any moral integrity, they should renounce their Princess-ships and we would all recognise they've progressed beyond the age of 8.

That's enough on this sorry tale.

The Castle of Mey

The Castle of Mey. The solution to the King's problem.

The name of the problem is Andrew. Still a Prince, I believe. If I were the King (and I'm with Boris on this; it's a highly desirable life option) I'd be looking hard at where I would like him to live. Number one criterion is...as far away from me as possible. Hence the Castle of Mey, which is a few miles away from John o' Groats.700 miles away from London, only 200 from Norway.

The north of Scotland has a rich history with Norway so it's perfectly possible we could persuade Norway to annex that small portion of the north east coast of Scotland, in which case Andrew would be a Norway resident and they might even allow him to be extradited to the USA to give evidence in the Epstein/Maxwell investigation.

It should be easy to persuade Andrew of this. Large house? Tick - according to the Times it has 38 rooms including 15 bedrooms; not at all sure what he'd do with those but I'm guessing he would come up with some ideas. Grand living? Tick - it's a castle, for goodness sake. Title? You could call him King Of The North, which would have the additional advantage of annoying Andy Burnham. Two ticks.

Then there's the referendum. The next time there is one on Scottish independence, the King could legitimately campaign for the Yes camp, as "my brother is available to be your King". In which case, again, the extradition possibility comes into play.

You need to know how to play to people's egos, Charles.