Prince Andrew

British Ministers are, so far, standing by Prince Andrew - but not too close. The Prince has become a considerable embarrassment to David Cameron's Government, for whom he volunteers to work promoting trade -- and also to his family. The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is an international event just seven weeks away. Then there's the carefully arranged and highly symbolic royal visit of The Queen to the Republic of Ireland in May - the first ever since Ireland won its independence from the British monarchy. Both these events fall into the category of historic. They don't want Andy to spoil it. The "firm" as the royals call themselves, have had enough scandals. Prince Andrew's friendship with a convicted American child sex offender called Jeffrey Epstein is not, unfortunately, the first time this junior royal has put his foot in it. His other pals include one of Colonel Gaddafi's sons who he invited to Windsor Castle -- and last October he hosted a lunch at Buckingham Palace for the Tunisian President's son in law -- who is now under investigation for money-laundering. Everything Prince Andrew touches seems to end in torrid publicity. Four years ago, he sold his house to a friendly Khazakstan billionaire for 24 million dollars, way OVER the asking price. The house remains derelict. So what did the billionaire get in return? Andrew's marriage was a disaster. His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson practically went bankrupt and was recently caught in a British tabloid sting demanding around 800,000 dollars in cash for accesss to him. And though it may have been a gesture of pure altruism for the Prince to allow Jeffrey Epstein to pay off some of her debts, the world might interpret this as accepting a bribe. No wonder so many official heads over here have been shaken in dismay. The second sons of reigning British monarchs are often victims of their position - or the lack of it. They always become the Duke of York, a title which carries absolutely no authority, and they frequently struggle to find anything useful to do with their lives. They are too unimportant to get proper jobs but too well known to misbehave in public. Prince Andrew has crossed that line. His role as an ambassador for British trade is expensive and often extravagant. Some say his presence in certain parts of the world has helped seal the deal for our exporters. But the bad headlines are stacking up, and the Government here is losing its patience with the man the newspapers call 'Air Miles Andy'. One more damaging revelation and he's out. This is Ed Boyle for CBS News in London.