Once upon a time there was a handsome prince. Well, some people thought he was handsome; he certainly did and so did his mother, who favoured him over her other children, even though he was not the eldest, the youngest nor the cleverest. He was the naughtiest, though, and because he was spoilt he could get away with almost anything.
Or he thought he could. But there were rumours, and stories, and photographs. Some of the mud began to stick and the people said 'There's no smoke without fire'. And when his mother wasn't there to defend him, he tried to prevaricate and bluster but only made matters worse.
Eventually, the mud weighed him down so much that he had to cast away some of his finery. And the people looked at him and said, 'that's not enough'. So he shed some more layers, but still the people weren't satisfied until his brother stepped in and took away everything that was left, his palace and all his ranks and titles.
And underneath all the trappings of wealth and privilege, the one-time prince was revealed as nothing more than a dirty old man.
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