‘The Firm’ as a modernising strategy was already falling apart, but with the shocking allegations so fully in the public domain, it has now collapsed

The royal family was always a disaster waiting to happen. Its creation as a marketable entity in the 1960s by the late Queen Elizabeth II was meant to “modernise” the monarchy for the 20th century. It worked, but only up to a point. Her son Prince Andrew has long been its biggest liability, this week in trouble yet again due to his alleged behaviour within that ghoulish circle, the friends of Jeffrey Epstein.

King Charles now has a decision to make as to how far he can allow his brother’s past behaviour to tarnish the family’s image. That image is the essence of royalty. Monarchy has no other authentication. The constitutional position of head of state in a democracy is subject to the will of parliament, but also to the “will” of the people. It was the latter will that forced the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 over marrying a divorcee. A royal personage cannot stand for re-election. He or she is acceptable to the generality of public opinion or they are nothing.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The record-breaking Oscar winner explains how her new film, A House of Dynamite – starring Idris Elba as the US president – is rooted in her cold war childhood and the urgent threats we all face today

Kathryn Bigelow has been thinking about death: hers, and mine, and yours as well. History will always remember her as the first woman to win a best director Oscar, which she did in 2010 for The Hurt Locker. But in her new film, A House of Dynamite, history may not have long to run. It is the story of a nuclear missile, launched at an American city. The rest is about what happens next. Bigelow would like you to consider Armageddon.

“Someone I know said the bomb for the audience is realising this is possible,” she says. She smiles. “I’m glad if people come away from the movie as concerned as I am.”

They could have given the award to an album that wasn’t already a huge hit – but Fender’s blend of kitchen-sink drama and stadium choruses is expertly done

‘You can expect all the usual excitement,” offered host Lauren Laverne at the start of this year’s Mercury prize ceremony. It’s the kind of thing people hosting awards shows are duty-bound to say, but the use of the word “usual” suggested she was diplomatically overlooking last year’s event, which – through no fault of the album that won, English Teacher’s This Could Be Texas – had all the excitement of a wake.

The Mercury had lost its corporate sponsorship, necessitating what host Annie Mac called “an intimate celebration of this year’s shortlist”, in the same way that an estate agent might call a flat with the shower next to the cooker “cosy”.

For 60 seconds I gave everything – explosive energy, perfect mime and rock star charisma. I think I blacked out from shock when they said I’d won

I was 10 when I read an article in the local paper about the Air Guitar World Championships, which take place every year in my home town of Oulu, Finland. My parents had helped out at the very first contest back in 1996 – my mum gave out flyers, my dad sorted the music. Since then, national championships have been held all across the world, with the winners assembling in Oulu every summer.

At the time, I asked my parents if I could compete. At first they were hesitant; the event was in a bar, and there would be a lot of adults. They thought it might be an intimidating atmosphere, but I was determined.

West Ham’s lack of forward planning, Rodri’s fitness concerns and a crunch clash at Anfield

• Top scorers: check out the latest standings

Ange Postecoglou is under increasing pressure at Nottingham Forest having failed to secure a win in his seven games in charge. Reports suggest Sean Dyche is waiting to take over, but history shows Evangelos Marinakis sways like the wind, and victory against Chelsea could be enough to save Postecoglou’s job for now. Goals have been a mounting concern for a team that have been beaten in four of their last five league matches and failed to score in any of those defeats. Failure to find their shooting boots will ensure Forest go three consecutive top-flight games without a goal for the first time since 1999. It will be a tough task against a buoyant Chelsea team, who entered the international break having beaten Liverpool. Moisés Caicedo was instrumental in the win against the defending champions, scoring the opener, and the 23-year-old leads the league in tackles (28) and interceptions (18). Elliot Anderson, whose total of 55 turnovers is also a league-high tally, will have his work cut out for him in what may be his toughest midfield battle of the season. Yara El-Shaboury

Nottingham Forest v Chelsea, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Brighton v Newcastle, Saturday 3pm

Burnley v Leeds, Saturday 3pm

Crystal Palace v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

With its shimmering ginkgo trees, tinkling pools and a rooftop garden, the Appleby Blue Almshouse housing complex for older people is a worthy winner of RIBA’s prestigious Stirling prize

Described as “a provision of pure delight”, Appleby Blue Almshouse, a social housing complex for older people has been named this year’s winner of the RIBA Stirling prize. With a vibe that has more in common with an Alpine spa hotel than the poky rooms and grim corridors usually associated with housing for elderly people, the building – by architects Witherford Watson Mann – reinvents the almshouse for the modern era as a place of care, shelter and social connection.

As a building type, the origins of almshouses extend back centuries, giving a semblance of dignity to the poor, the old, the sick and the marginalised. Sequestered from the outside world, with cellular dwellings arrayed around courtyards, they evoke a sense of pastoral benevolence.

The Labour West Midlands police and crime commissioner said review should determine if ban is ‘appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable’

Zarah Sultana, the former Labour MP who is now a member of the Independent Alliance in parliament, alongside Ayoub Khan and four others, has also defended the Maccabi ban on the grounds that Israeli teams should not be competing in international sport. She says:

Next UEFA must ban all Israeli teams.

We cannot have normalisation with genocide and apartheid.

Apartheid South Africa was banned from the Olympics for 32 years.

The same people who called Nelson Mandela a “terrorist” now say we can’t boycott apartheid Israel.

There are two distinct issues. One is the safety aspect … If the police in West Midlands find it challenging because they simply do not have the resources to ensure safety, then that’s one aspect.

The second aspect is a moral argument that Maccabi Tel Aviv should not even be playing in this international competition.

Signs of credit stress leave markets in Europe and Asia down, while investors turn to safe haven assets

• Business live – latest updates

Global stock markets fell sharply and gold hit a record high after two US regional banks said they had been exposed to millions of dollars of bad loans and alleged fraud.

Signs of credit stress rattled markets across Europe and Asia. In London the FTSE 100 fell 1.5%, Germany’s Dax fell 2%, the Ibex in Spain was off 0.8% and France’s Cac 40 dropped 1.5%, before recovering some ground.

Housing secretary and capital’s mayor draw up plans to boost housebuilding, but homelessness charities protest

Developers will be allowed to build lower numbers of affordable homes and claim higher subsidies to build them under plans being drawn up by the government to solve London’s housebuilding crisis.

Steve Reed, the housing secretary, and Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, will announce the package within weeks, in what officials say will be a time-limited intervention designed to stall the sudden drop in new building in the capital.

Stephen Parkinson called on to give ‘fuller explanation’ as MI5 expresses frustration over charges being dropped

The director of public prosecutions has come under intense cross-party pressure to explain why the China spy trial collapsed as MI5 expressed frustration at the decision and MPs launched a series of inquiries into how it was taken.

The chairs of the home affairs, foreign affairs, justice and national security committees wrote together to Stephen Parkinson, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), on Thursday calling on him to give “a fuller explanation for the dropping of charges”.