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The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion smiled suggestively in the rear.

Without that photograph, taken at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who stated she was moved across the ocean and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the royal family?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had openly stated to have never heard of her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet handed over a large amount of monarchical money to avert a drawn-out lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

Considering this, conversations of the monarchy acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and another photo of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: To what extent did his siblings, maybe even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he unabashedly hosted them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Journeys were printed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Furthermore the presumption which expected subservience when he entered a room or the supreme awareness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of public duties and military positions in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing information of his conduct and that of his associates.

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

Society (and the media) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to defend him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent family members recognized that. The one imperative is to pass on the institution, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, responsible and attentive to their citizens.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the well-known uncertain king was prodded further. There was no alternative. The palace had surrendered command of the narrative.

Presently the removal of designations and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The primary monarch to forfeit his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his role in the conflict

He remains a counsellor of state, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but none of these will actually occur.

Coming Developments

Can persons he comes across still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Would they say Sir,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's vast grounds at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some sort of personal stipend.

This is not his former home, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still records in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the improper use of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the present the institutional damage to the institution is limited. The statement from the palace was clearly that the removal of designations was what the sovereign, and especially other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Altered Approach

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short communication showed evidently that the royals were supporting the accuser's version of events.

Additionally, for the first time they eventually showed concern for the victims: "These actions are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew seems never to have understood that truth.