I was sitting in London’s Guildhall, rather pleased with myself to have been invited to a major royal occasion as a guest rather than merely a journalist, when our late Queen stood up and declared that her year had been an “Annus Horribilis”. It was 24 November, 1992 – and her words signalled an abrupt end to my lunch.

The year had lurched through two marriage breakdowns, a divorce, lurid photos of a topless Duchess, embarrassing leaked phone calls – and a huge fire at Windsor Castle. The Queen was distraught.

After all that happened in 2025, who could have blamed King Charles if he’d kicked off his Christmas message by announcing that it had been an “Annus Horrendus”? The cause of that horror can be put down to one man: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

For all the good work that the King and his small band of working royals have undertaken in the past year, 2025 will be remembered for the sordid story of a long-standing friendship between a convicted paedophile and the now disgraced ex-duke and his wife. It........

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