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It all began with a single photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while an associate beamed knowingly in the rear.

Absent that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have brief relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had overtly stated to have no known about her, asserted he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical funds to settle a protracted lawsuit.

Years of Scandal

Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and an additional photo of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Hubris: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his aides and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he publicly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Travel were documented in official documents: chopper flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which required deference when he walked into a area or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still living. The sovereign did at least remove him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

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

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could escape deceiving about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the media) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any consequence to defend him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more astute royals realized that. The key objective is to pass on the institution, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, proving they are useful, accountable and reactive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in danger in an age when submission and discretion is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the well-known uncertain king was prodded additional. There was little choice. The palace had surrendered command of the account.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the continued and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The primary monarch to surrender his titles in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially painful given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a counsellor of state, theoretically able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but not any of these will truly happen.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he meets still show respect to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's large property at Sandringham.

There, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of private allowance.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the possession of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Could lawmakers demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the improper use of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the institution was evidently that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

The cessation of deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the brief statement showed evidently that the monarchy were siding with the victim's account of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, despite the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will kill the monarchy. In his foolishness, personal excess and greed, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.