“[R]eflections must not be cast in debate upon the conduct of the Sovereign, the heir to the throne, or other members of the royal family.” So reads Paragraph 21.23 of Erskine May, the “bible of parliamentary procedure” named after the man who drew it up in 1844 when Queen Victoria occupied the throne.

Today, Victoria’s great-great-great-grandson, the former Prince Andrew, has been so disgraced that several nations of the Commonwealth which emerged from her empire want him removed from the line of succession. Lawmakers in the “mother of parliaments” are demanding to throw off Erskine May’s shackles so they can censure royal reprobates. The implications for King Charles III and his family remain unknown. The only certainty is that change must come.

© Bloomberg