Former Buckingham Palace press officer Dickie Arbiter predicted damage to the Duke of York’s relationships with various charities – his work concentrates on entrepreneurship and education and he has more than 200 patronages.

The episode was also a case study in royalty’s worst personality traits:the sense of entitlement and amused detachment from responsibility. It impacts more than just Andrew's reputation.

There are reports the Queen gave the prince approval to do the interview – a theory backed up by the use of the palace as the backdrop.

Others say it was Andrew’s bullheaded insistence that made it happen;the Queen was “aware” of the interview but had not approved it. Jason Stein,the Duke’s press secretary,left the Palace by mutual agreement last month,reportedly after disagreements over the handling of the Epstein allegations.

Certainly the interview broke the cardinal rule of crisis PR:if you have nothing to say,don’t say it. And it’s hard to find a useful message for Andrew in this 45 minutes apart from a few firm denials (which had already been done by press release).

It is likely to encourage,rather than discourage,calls for him to give evidence to the ongoing investigation in the US.

On the other hand the bland PR-speak of modern public life is a blight on society and a barrier to transparency. If Andrew is to be praised for anything,it’s making himself available and answering questions instead of engaging lawyers,let alone his brain.

In the end,what you think of the interview and the implications depends almost entirely on what you think the royal family is for.

Asrecent events in the UK have shown,the constitutional role of the Queen is now just a cipher for government’s executive power.

And Prince Andrew has never been essential or even incidental to the monarchy’s official job. He’s rapidly receding down the line of succession beyond the stage of being useful even if a sudden plague wiped out a handful of royals (he currently sits in eighth place,just after Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor).

The royals are a focus for patriotism,a tourist attraction and a celebrity soap opera. Their stars slot neatly into (indeed,played their part in creating) the modern celebrity template of gossip,scandal,publicity,patronage,charity promotion and national spectacle. You might as well criticise a Kardashian.

Andrew’sNewsnight interview was a disaster for him personally,and for the causes that still want him as patron. But no mud will stick to the royals where it matters,at least no more than was already around in plentiful handfuls.

Britannia still stands. The Queen still rules the waves,while her family waive the rules.