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It all began with a solitary photograph, possibly the most impactful ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while another individual beamed suggestively in the background.

Absent that snapshot, shot at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have perfunctory intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline?

An odd, revealing action by someone who had overtly stated to have not been aware of her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet provided a large amount of family funds to avert a protracted legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he openly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Trips were listed in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected subservience when he walked into a area or the extreme consciousness about his royal titles used on his official documents in communication to his associates.

He could get away with it while his parent, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his actions and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his interaction with a notorious figure.

The public (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more astute monarchical figures realized that. The primary concern is to hand down the crown, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an time when submission and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant king was prodded additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the removal of designations and the continued and permanent personal shame that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The primary member to forfeit his honorifics in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his duty in the Falklands war

He is still a constitutional officer, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but neither of these will ever come to pass.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr,

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

In that place, he will be provided by the king with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his former home, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the hands of US Congress to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will parliament demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is contained. The message from the palace was evidently that the stripping of designations was what the king, and particularly other senior family members, desired.

A Shift in Position

No more deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise statement showed clearly that the monarchy were aligning with the accuser's account of events.

Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "The censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew appears never to have understood that reality.