Queen Camilla and Prince William are showing their cards together. According to British sources, the two are pressuring King Charles III to fully cut Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York from the institutional life of the crown - not just from ceremonies, but from any public engagement carrying the royal seal.

The reason isn't family but strictly reputational. New declassified documents indicate that the whole York branch may have had financial benefits from Prince Andrew's ties with Jeffrey Epstein. The princesses allegedly stayed in contact with Epstein's circle even after his conviction. For William, who is shaping the image of the crown for the next fifty years, that's a black mark he doesn't want to drag along. For Camilla, who has built a public image as a protector of survivors of sexual violence, the association is "deeply uncomfortable", as journalist Phil Dampier writes in the British press.

The symbolism hasn't gone unnoticed at the palace either. When it was recently announced that Eugenie was expecting a third child, the court issued only "His Majesty the King has been informed and is delighted". Not a word about Camilla - a play on absence within royal protocol that everyone in Britain reads instantly.

There is, however, a limit. The King can take away titles and exclude them from public events, but only Parliament can change a position in the line of succession. Beatrice and Eugenie stay in line - and that's a reality the young heir cannot erase.

For Balkan readers who followed Diana, Harry and Meghan over the past three decades, this is another scene from the same script: the crown constantly cleans itself through family victims, and who's next depends on what shows up in the press. Who answers for what Andrew and Epstein actually did - that's no longer asked out loud.