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It all began with a isolated photograph, arguably the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while another individual beamed knowingly in the backdrop.

Absent that photograph, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a adolescent who declared she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a individual of the monarchy?

An odd, telling action by someone who had publicly asserted to have no heard of her, claimed he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid millions of monarchical resources to avert a long-delayed court action.

A Long Period of Scandal

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This scandal has continued for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his staff and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he openly welcomed them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Trips were listed in official documents: helicopter travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the arrogance which demanded subservience when he appeared in a space or the extreme consciousness about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the issuance of biographical works giving more grim particulars of his actions and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could avoid deceiving about his interaction with a notorious figure.

The public (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was no one of any importance to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more astute family members realized that. The key objective is to pass on the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and unblemished.

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

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

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive king was prodded additional. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the story.

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

• Reduction: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The primary member to lose his titles in modern times
• Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his duty in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will actually happen.

Future Prospects

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

Of course, he is not moving to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive property at Sandringham.

There, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still documents in the custody of US Congress to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might lawmakers demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Maybe for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is contained. The statement from the palace was clearly that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, desired.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the short announcement showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the complainant's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the first time they finally showed regard for the survivors: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-interest and inactivity that will destroy the crown. In his folly, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that lesson.