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The saga started with a single photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Without that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a adolescent who stated she was trafficked across the Atlantic and obliged to have cursory relations with a prince of the royal family?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have not heard of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of monarchical money to avert a protracted legal case.

Years of Disgrace

Considering this, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This controversy has continued for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another photo of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Self-importance: How long did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he unabashedly invited them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Travel were printed in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded respect when he appeared in a area or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more troubling information of his conduct and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was nobody of any consequence to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent family members realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as before at least complete and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, showing they are beneficial, responsible and reactive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in danger in an age when respect and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant monarch was pressured further. There was no alternative. The royal household had lost control of the story.

Currently the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and life-long public humiliation that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The initial member to forfeit his honorifics in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably stinging given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a royal advisor, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will ever come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Might they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the royal family's large property at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be supplied by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of private allowance.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still files in the possession of US Congress to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might lawmakers demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the palace was evidently that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, sought.

A Shift in Position

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the short communication showed clearly that the monarchy were aligning with the accuser's account of incidents.

Furthermore, for the first time they eventually showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are judged required, despite the fact that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and indolence that will undermine the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that truth.