Letter: You just couldn't make it all up!

When Charles and Diana married in 1981, I asked a friend when did she think it would be Prince Andrew's turn. 'Give him a chance, he hasn't met me yet!' she quipped. At that time he was seen as a heartthrob, dashing, handsome and a refreshing change from his more serious elder brother.

Later on, the 'rebel' in him became more prominent, with a series of women and holing up in Princess Margaret's hideout in Mustique with actress Koo Stark, who'd starred in a naughty film. He earned the nicknames of 'the Playboy Prince' and 'Randy Andy'.

He seemed to settle down for a while when he married Fergie and had two daughters, but the marriage faltered, even though they've remained good friends despite his biggest, and by far the worst, fall from grace.

Recently, there's been the emergence of what appeared to be a very sordid lifestyle, keeping highly dubious company, most notably the sex offender and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, as well as an accusation of being complicit in the abuse of an American woman.

This was followed by a disastrous interview with Emily Maitlis in which he showed no regret for his association with Epstein, (actually stating he'd met 'useful' contacts through him). No sympathy for his victims and his explanations and denials held about as much water as a funnel from a hardware shop. This has now culminated in him stepping down from public duty, but let's face it, how many public duties did he perform? He has said he is incapable of sweating, but I bet he's sweating now, and the rest of the Royals must be getting through the deodorants at a rate of knots! You just couldn't make it all up!

Meanwhile, 38 years later, the one solitary thing my friend has in common with her former heartthrob is that they both now have grown-up daughters, she has been with the same partner for a considerable number of years now. She never got to meet her idol, but boy, it seems like she's had one heck of a lucky escape!

Glamour and glitz can so easily become grubby and murky. Fantasy can turn into a very grim form of reality.

Like they say, there are definitely some circumstances where you're better off never meeting your idols!