When Prince Charles “read the riot act” to his embattled brother Prince Andrew this week, he at least adhered to the royal style of keeping things polite, civilized and moderately social.

That is, future king Charles invited Andrew to “a light lunch” with their father, Prince Philip, at the queen’s Sandringham estate. The anticipated dressing down over Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein took place either during this lunch, or before or after.

“It was all very civilized and calm but Charles calmly read him the riot act and told him there was no way back for him in the near future,” a source close to the royal family told The Sun.

But as “calm” as Charles may have been, Andrew still “thought he was being treated harshly as nothing has yet been proved against him,” the source told The Sun.

Nevertheless, Queen Elizabeth’s second son accepted his brother’s decision that he can no longer perform royal duties. “He really had little choice,” the source said, adding that Charles is very concerned about the impact that the scandal surrounding Andrew’s connection to the multi-millionaire pedophile could have on the future of the monarchy.

This civilized dressing down took place before Andrew and the royal family were once again dragged in the U.K. media over the scandal.

On Monday night, a BBC news special explored Andrew’s long and troubling association with Epstein, who reportedly died by suicide Aug. 10. The special also featured an impassioned interview with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Epstein’s alleged “sex slaves” and the Duke of York’s chief accuser.

In her BBC interview, Giuffre repeated allegations that Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew three times in 2001 when she was 17. She offered specific details about meeting Andrew in London in March 2001 at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew’s longtime socialite friend and Epstein’s alleged “madam.”

The Sacramento-born Giuffre, now 35, said she danced with the prince at a nightclub, where he sweated profusely. She also said she had sex with him that night at Maxwell’s London home. She said she had been ordered to have sex with Andrew and to please him.

“It was disgusting,” Giuffre said in an interview broadcast Monday by the BBC. “I sat there in bed and felt horrified and ashamed.”

Giuffre also rebuked the royal family for its ongoing support for Andrew, despite the Epstein controversy that goes back nearly 10 years.

“I had just been abused by a member of the royal family,” she said. “These powerful people were my chains.”

Giuffre asked the British public to stand with her and help her demand answers from Andrew and, by association, the royal family.

“This is a story of being trafficked,” Giuffre said. “This is a story of abuse and this is a story of your guys’ royalty.”

While it may be true that it hasn’t been proven in a court of law that Andrew had sex with Giuffre, or that he knew of Epstein’s abuse of other underage girls, Andrew seriously embarrassed himself and lost public sympathy with his own disastrous BBC interview last month.

To the vast majority of viewers, the 59-year-old royal came off as arrogant, dishonest and out of touch when answering questions about Epstein and about allegations he had sex with Giuffre.

In a statement issued this week through Buckingham Palace, Andrew continued to say he “unequivocally regrets his ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein,” Vanity Fair reported. He also repeated his denial that he had any relationship or contact with Giuffre.

But Giuffre said in her BBC interview, “He knows what happened. I know what happened. And there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me.”

It is believed that Andrew didn’t stay at Sandringham to watch Giuffre’s BBC interview, while Charles returned to London for Tuesday’s reception for NATO leaders at Buckingham Palace.

Multiple reports say that Charles had a strong hand in urging the queen to ask Andrew to step down from his royal duties following his BBC interview. Among other things, Charles reportedly was angry news about his royal tour of New Zealand was overshadowed by the backlash over Andrew’s interview.

The Sun said that Charles also is concerned about the prospect of Andrew going to the United States to be interviewed by federal authorities investigating Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, or by him giving testimony in civil cases brought by Epstein’s many accusers. Charles worries that Andrew’s disclosures could “remove the mystery” surrounding the royal family.

For his part, Philip expressed regret that Andrew never learned to “lead a simple life,” the source told The Sun. “He thinks he’s been too extravagant.”

Philip was always known as the disciplinarian in the family, and royal observers wonder if his retirement from public life and retreat to Sandringham has meant that no one was keeping different family members in line.

But it may be that Charles is assuming more of this disciplinarian role. His key role in “retiring'” Andrew from public life has fed speculation that he may adopt a “Prince Regent” role when the queen turns 95, the Daily Mail reported.

There is talk among courtiers that the queen may use this milestone to effectively hand over day-to-day control of the monarchy to Charles, the Daily Mail added.

There also have been numerous reports that Charles reportedly wants to establish a “streamlined” monarchy that consists just of him, his wife, Camilla, his sons, Princes William and Harry, and their wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, carrying out the majority of royal duties.

In this streamlined monarchy model, Andrew definitely wouldn’t have a role and neither would his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie.