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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most significant ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a young woman, while another individual grinned suggestively in the background.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a adolescent who said she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have perfunctory intimate contact with a individual of the royal family?

A strange, indicative action by someone who had overtly stated to have never known about her, asserted he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of his mother's resources to avert a long-delayed legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

Considering this, discussions of the monarchy acting decisively to cut Andrew off are misguided. This controversy has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Travel were documented in official documents: chopper flights from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the entitlement which demanded subservience when he entered a area or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in letters to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least remove him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, we now know, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his behavior and that of his associates.

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

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to support him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more astute family members recognized that. The key objective is to pass on the crown, if not as before at least intact and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, showing they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in danger in an age when deference and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the famously indecisive king was pressured additional. There was little choice. The institution had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the removal of titles and the persistent and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The initial monarch to lose his designations in recent history
• Naval Career: Particularly stinging given his duty in the engagement

He is still a constitutional officer, in principle able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but none of these will ever come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still defer to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Will they even say Sir,

Naturally, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the sovereign's large property at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still records in the possession of American legislators to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might lawmakers demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Possibly for the present the reputational impact to the monarchy is contained. The statement from the palace was evidently that the removal of honorifics was what the king, and particularly other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise announcement showed evidently that the institution were supporting the complainant's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the first time they eventually showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are judged required, notwithstanding the truth that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, selfishness and indolence that will kill the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that reality.