They've been playing us for a long time. Why Andrew continued to meet with Epstein after he was convicted, is either poor judgement, or suspicious at the very least. Epstein, Maxwell, the Clinton's, Trump, Prince Andrew...
but: members of the royal family colluding with a pedophile isn't anything new. Charles was good friends with Peter Ball, a priest who was convicted of abuse - Charles regularly sent him 'gifts of money' and put him up in a house in the duchy free of charge while he got his life back together. And, oc, the royals' (particularly Philip, Charles and Diana) friendship with Savile raises some very serious alarm bells. If we're to believe that 'insiders' within the BBC, BBC execs etc etc knew about Savile and his abuse - as has been suggested, many, many times, and openly declared by many - then Prince Charles' security detail would be very aware of what he was up to: they would have vetted anyone and everyone who came into close contact with Charles to the #th degree. And if his security detail knew what Savile was up to, then you can bet that Charles did too. And that isn't to mention Savile's ties with the Yorkshire ripper and the murders around Leeds.
The Royals managed to distance themselves from any dirt on that front, so perhaps Andrew thought that he could do the same. Andrew forgets he's not indispensable.....