School holidays are precious, protected time for the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Last week was half term.

Prince William was back from his official visit to Saudi Arabia.

The princess had completed a run of engagements around mental health, young families and the British textile industry.

Half term was downtime away from the rhythm of the school day in Windsor and the family was spending it, as they often do, privately in Norfolk.

On Thursday morning, that peace was broken.

Around three miles away from the Wales' Norfolk retreat, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate.

For Prince William, this was uncomfortably close to home on many levels.

Prince William and his uncle Andrew are not close.

Far from it.

You didn't have to be a body language expert to read the mood when Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sidled up to his nephew outside Westminster Cathedral after the funeral of the Duchess of Kent in September last year.

But Andrew is now Prince William's problem too.

The future king was a teenager at school when his uncle first met Jeffrey Epstein. He was just about to start university when Virginia Giuffre alleged she was first forced to have sex with the former prince, an allegation which Andrew has always denied.

When that photo was taken of Andrew walking in Central Park with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010, it was about a month after Prince William and Catherine had announced their engagement.

Prince William has been at a distance from much of the Andrew story for so long.

But as he moves closer to becoming king, the stain Andrew is leaving on the reputation of the Royal Family matters to an heir who says he wants to modernise and change.

Prince William has spoken openly about his plans for the future of the monarchy. It is always carefully framed around his personal vision and approach rather than a criticism of how his father is doing the job.

The talk is of "evolution not revolution" but with every development in the Andrew story, Prince William's job as future King gets harder.

One source who has known Prince William for decades told me: "William might be the changemaker the country needs but he won't want it forced on him in this way."

Andrew is forcing it on him. Because the public want more from the Royal Family.

The appetite is for change, for greater transparency, and more accountability from an institution that can, at times, move slowly.

"While the recent events involving Andrew are deeply, deeply troubling, we must keep perspective," another source close to the family said.

"One individual's grave wrongdoing does not define the entire Royal Family, nor does it diminish the countless contributions they have made to our nation."

I spoke to several people - all of whom know members of the Royal Family well, have a history with them, understand the challenges.

Many would count themselves as supporters of the monarchy, others less so.

All spoke to me off the record which is often the frustration in this job, that so few people will say things out loud.

But it is my judgement that their experience and knowledge offer a greater understanding of how events have played out and are worth hearing from.

The media coverage over recent days will be deeply unsettling for the Royal Household.

The language is of "crisis", "catastrophe", "extraordinary times" and "the end of the monarchy as we know it”.

My sense is that the Palace unquestionably gets the mood and understands the jeopardy. But are they publicly showing that they understand that mood well enough and answering the questions that have gone unanswered?

"There should be no doubt where the King's heart and mind is on this matter," one royal source told me.

When I asked another how big a crisis this was, they said: "Only time will tell. It needs to be judged over the calm passage of time and the response will be to the issues not the headlines."

An arrest and active police investigation will now limit what Buckingham Palace says officially, especially around the details of the case and who knew what when.

The talk is of ensuring that there is a firewall between the King and the legal and police inquiries so that they can proceed cleanly.

But the bigger risk could be that there is now a firewall between the public and the monarchy, because of the handling of Andrew.

A long-term, loyal employee of the Royal Household told me Andrew was the only member of the Royal Family who treated him badly.

One question I asked everyone I spoke to was a question many had put to me - did we need to hear directly from the King? Would the public have understood the King's anguish better if they had seen him personally explain why he'd stripped his brother of his titles or even if he'd expressed "his deepest concern" about his brother's arrest last week on camera?

Some have suggested this was a big enough moment for an address to the nation.

"Public statements are for national cohesion," a royal source said. "There are judgement calls to be made all the time. This is a difficult situation for the family and the institution. It is best for the authorities to examine it in a proper way."

Another person who knows the workings of the Royal Family well told me they understood that we live in a world where feelings are shared and explored without restraint and royal silence or written public statements can feel remote.

But they were cautious when it came to the King and the Royal Family.

"You always have to ask yourself if you can say something that would make the situation better. You don't want to come out and just provide content for the sake of it. My gut is that business as usual still works best."

So for now, there will be no address to the nation, nor further public announcements on the Palace, Epstein and the former prince.

We are also in a barren time for royal celebrations that bring together communities nationwide. There are no significant jubilees, no royal weddings, no major events on the scale we saw in the final years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

Sometimes these big royal occasions can be restorative, a reminder of what the Royal Family does well. But there are currently few of those dates for the palaces to rely upon.

Royal scandals increase the glare on issues rumbling beneath the surface.

Andrew was a royal prince, who everyone I spoke to said was both entitled and indulged. It has proved a dangerous combination.

When it is Prince William's time, he will inherit a Crown where deference is diminished, privilege is pored over and financial accountability is scrutinised hard.

He will want to ensure his own children have a purpose in life, an understanding of their role and public service.

And he will want the poor judgements of his uncle confined to the royal archive alongside the other crises that have seriously damaged the public standing of the monarchy.