The republican movement in the UK has existed in various forms since the 17th century and dates back to the establishment of the Commonwealth of England.

Since then it has been largely irrelevant, save from an occasional attention seeker or two, making a din.

But it can now be safely said the royal formerly known as Prince… Andrew has done more to champion its advancement than anyone else in 376 years.

Republic, the current anti-monarchy campaign group, was set up in 1983 just three years before Andrew married Sarah Ferguson.

In the same year they wed 86% of Brits said it was very important, or quite important, to continue having a monarchy. Today around half hold this view.

Meanwhile, the proportion who say the monarchy is not very important, or not at all important, has risen from one in 10 in 1983 to three in 10 today.

Support for the outright abolition of the monarchy has also grown – from 3% in 1983 to 15%.

It is a constitutional crisis.

While some are ambivalent, most throughout the decades have viewed the Royal Family as a force for good and would rather it remained.

After all, no other country on Earth does pomp and pageantry quite like Britain and secretly we are all rather proud of that.

But cohesion is crumbling and these days, if polling is to be believed, very few would lose sleep if it was abolished.

For that we can squarely pin the blame on Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the boorish oaf and Britain’s persona non grata, who serves as perhaps the most striking example of unwarranted entitlement, arrogance, and greed, and whose eye-popping and lifelong privileges are not earned; they are simply a quirk of birth.

It is true he served with distinction in the Falklands.

But today it is impossible to imagine his reputation sinking any lower at a time the Royal Family, an institution unrivalled in the embodiment of privilege, faces the battle of its life to remain relevant as millions of families suffer amid a tsunami of tax hikes and cost of living squeezes.

The former prince has been evicted from his ridiculously well appointed 30-bedroom Royal Lodge mansion and will be forced to live out his days in effective exile after his excommunication. Will the Royal Family ever recover?

The shame he dumped on them – and his country – from his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein will never budge, just like an indelible stain.

It perhaps explains why Republic is now enjoying unprecedented levels of support and has instructed lawyers to consider a private prosecution over allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office.

Like millions of families across the UK the monarchy is being forced to modernise, adapt, and change amid the lightning fast pace of the modern world.

But you would be hard pressed to find a household as dysfunctional as the Windsors.

Many think their existence only serves to highlight the chasm that exists between the haves and have nots in Britain.

For the first time, the British Social Attitudes survey asked the public to choose between keeping the monarchy, or replacing it with an elected head of state.

Tellingly, support for the monarchy now stands at its lowest level since records began.

A majority (58%) still favours retaining it, but nearly four in 10 (38%) would prefer an elected head of state.

While that may excite a certain Sir Tony Blair – the former prime minister who has long thought of himself as presidential material – Charles and his wife Camilla, once reviled by the public, remain popular, as do William and Kate.

But would it really come as any great surprise if there was a collective outbreak of apathy should the whole set up disappear?

If not, blame ​the clown prince for bringing the house down.