Queen Camilla and Prince William have allegedly formed a faction inside Buckingham Palace with a single goal: to convince Charles III to remove Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York from institutional life. The pressure isn't entirely new, but according to the Daily Mail, this time it is serious.

The trigger is the new declassification of documents about the friendship between Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein. The documents allegedly show economic benefits that extended to the whole York family, including both adult princesses. The palace had initially defended the two sisters as separate from their father - that line of defence has now collapsed.

Royal commentator Phil Dampier describes the situation like this: „Camilla has taken up the cause of abused women, and the link to the shameful history of the York family is especially uncomfortable for her. Relations between the Yorks and the rest of the royal family are at their lowest point.”

And here is the fine line. Charles cannot unilaterally remove the sisters from the line of succession. Only Parliament can do that with a specific law, and almost certainly only after a court ruling - of which there is none in this case. What the king can do: limit their titles, royal patronages and public engagements. Paradoxically, that is precisely what Camilla and William are after.

Behind the whole story sits something clearer than dynastic protocol. William is looking at his future as king. He doesn't want Beatrice and Eugenie in the frame. Camilla, meanwhile, isn't keen to build the new royal narrative around a family that is still paying for Prince Andrew's mistakes. The two interests align perfectly - and Charles is the man in the middle.

Will he give in? The question isn't whether, but when. And how much walking through the labyrinths of legal and ceremonial protocol it takes to wrap up a decision that has already been made backstage.