The avalanche of charities cutting ties will have been deeply embarrassing for the duchess, when much of her remaining public profile has been about such philanthropy and particularly causes involving children.
The charities deemed her no longer “appropriate” to be their representative, suggesting how badly her brand has been damaged by her connections with Epstein.
Those links to Epstein are like a tanker slowly leaking out toxic pollution and tarnishing those it touches.
The tipping point for the charities has been the awkward email exchange, which raises further questions about how long her contact continued with Epstein.
And there will be close attention paid to anything more about Prince Andrew’s links to Epstein that might emerge from any new caches of documents being released in the US.
Prince Andrew’s links with Epstein have been an unrelenting source of embarrassment for the royals.
When President Trump visited the UK last week, an image of the prince with Epstein was projected on to the walls of Windsor Castle, along with images of the visiting president.
So far the duchess has been a great survivor in royal circles. She’s kept bouncing back. Last Christmas she was praised by royal insiders for helping to keep Prince Andrew away from public events when he was caught up in a Chinese spy scandal.
The Christmas before she had been back in the royal fold, joining a royal Christmas gathering in Sandringham for the first time in decades. That was despite the Duke and Duchess of York not being working royals or allowed to be part of official royal events.
But this latest scandal is going to raise difficult questions about any future return – and Buckingham Palace might want the duke and duchess to keep their distance.