The King is urgently and actively considering removing Prince Andrew from the Order of the Garter, the Daily Mail reports.

Top-level discussions are taking place this afternoon at Buckingham Palace following the latest scandals involving the Duke of York.

It is possible that an official statement will even be made later today.

The Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III in 1348, is the most prestigious order of chivalry in Britain. It is an honour that is extremely valuable to Prince Andrew, and its removal would be a serious blow to him.

The monarch has the power to remove this honor from members of the order, although it is believed that King Charles would prefer his brother to voluntarily give up the title.

The final straw for the king is believed to have been the revelation that Andrew responded to the publication's initial report about his alleged sexual encounter with Virginia Giuffre by sending an email to Jeffrey Epstein saying:"We're in this together."

Of course, the Duke now claims he never met Virginia and insists the photo of him with his arm around the then-17-year-old girl's waist is fake.

One of the last people to be removed from the Order of the Garter was Emperor Hirohito of Japan after his country joined World War II in 1941.

Another option would be to strip Andrew of his title as Duke of York, but this would require a special Act of Parliament and significant parliamentary time, making this option much less likely.