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

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a adolescent who said she was transported across the sea and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the royal family?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had overtly claimed to have not been aware of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet provided a large amount of family money to settle a protracted court action.

A Long Period of Scandal

Considering this, discussions of the monarchy acting decisively to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and another photo of Andrew walking pleasantly with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Self-importance: How long did his family members, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his aides and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he openly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the entitlement which demanded deference when he entered a room or the supreme awareness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who strangely pampered him, was still living. The sovereign did at least revoke him of official roles and military positions in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption 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 royal family. There was no one of any importance to support him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more astute family members realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as previously at least intact and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their subjects.

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

Consequences

Finally, the famously uncertain monarch was prodded more. There was no other option. The institution had lost control of the narrative.

Presently the stripping of titles and the continued and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The primary member to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a counsellor of state, in principle able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but neither of these will actually occur.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he comes across still show respect to him? Will they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Would they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's vast property at Sandringham.

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

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of American legislators to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might legislators seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the time being the reputational impact to the monarchy is contained. The message from the palace was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

The cessation of deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed clearly that the institution were supporting the victim's account of incidents.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed consideration for the victims: "These actions are deemed necessary, despite the truth that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-interest and indolence that will kill the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.