Patrick Christys: Our Queen has been badly let down by Prince Andrew and by Boris Johnson's government

Prince Andrew has been cast out by his family. Humiliated, isolated and, potentially relatively skint, he wakes up this morning as a shadow of his former self.

But while most of the media are focusing on the Duke of York, I thought I’d turn my attention to the Queen instead.

No mother would ever wish to take this kind of action against her son. Our Queen has stripped him of all his military titles and patronages, and in case you’re wondering, that’s a lot.

Take a look at all these: Personal Aide-de-Camp to the Queen, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, Colonel-in-Chief of the 9th, Colonel-in-Chief of the Small Arms School Corps, Colonel-in-Chief of the Yorkshire Regiment.

These include things like Colonel of the grenadier guards, titles from Canada, New Zealand, you can see all the patronages as well, the Royal Ascot golf club, I imagine he’ll be annoyed about that one, the Royal Thames Yacht Club…I mean, there’s just loads…

The allegations against Andrew, which he categorically and wholeheartedly denies, are sleazy, grotty, low-rent, classless and degrading.

Everything that the Queen is not.

According to reports, Andrew’s cornerstone is now his lawyer.

I think, as a rule, when you’re that close to your lawyer something has gone horribly wrong.

The Queen has been fundamentally let down by Andrew, even though he denies the allegations and may well be found not guilty, the whole process has been humiliating.

Not least the whole Pizza Express in Woking stuff, and the sweat .

He’s not the only one who’s let her down recently.

Harry and Meghan chucked a pulled grenade into Buckingham Palace when they ‘found freedom’ in Oprah’s bosom, dishing out a catalogue of demonstrable lies and even the allegation of there being an unnamed Royal Racist.

But it’s not just her family who let her down recently.

As her husband lay in a coffin, the Queen was forced to sit alone, with a mask on, self-isolating in a way from the rest of her family on what must have been one of the very saddest days of her life.

Her beloved Philip had passed away and she was left to front up to it alone as a result of the Covid guidelines.

All the while Downing Street staff, quite possibly our Prime Minister, were maskless, glugging wine and scoffing cheese. This government has let her down as well.

As she approaches her Platinum Jubilee, mired in the scandal, controversy and sleaze of the past 18 months, I think it’s worth noting - has she ever really let us down?

At the tender age of just 13, she remained in Buckingham Palace after it was bombed in a show of solidarity with the rest of the country.

She joined the Women's Auxiliary Territory Service as a mechanic, this was no mean feat as 335 members of ATS were killed during the war.

She presided over the scaling back of the British Empire, which, at its height held 57 colonies or other territories comprising about a quarter of the land mass of the world.

But then she also presided over the building up of the Commonwealth - When she was crowned, the Commonwealth had eight member states. Today there are 54.

She’s devoted much of her life to tireless charity work.She lived through the troubles, went on that historic trip to Northern Ireland in 2011.

She’s seen 14 Prime Ministers come and go, she’s our longest reigning monarch and one of the longest in history - and we have been blessed to have her.

Our Queen has been badly let down recently by members of her family and by this government. She has always been there for us, the people, when we have needed her. But perhaps now, she needs us.

She must be concerned about the impact all of this is having on the reputation of the Royal Family, as she enters her dotage she must be concerned about what she is leaving behind, the future of the monarchy.

As we prepare for her Platinum Jubilee on February 6th, I think it’s important we do our bit to show her that this country and its people still want and need a royal family and that, in times of crisis, it is our enduring love for her that will ensure it survives.