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It all began with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate smiled knowingly in the background.

Lacking that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a adolescent who declared she was moved across the sea and forced to have brief intimate contact with a individual of the royal family?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have not known about her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical money to settle a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Considering this, talk of the monarchy acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has endured for the better part of 15 years since that image, and an additional image of Andrew ambling amiably with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his aides and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly welcomed them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the presumption which expected subservience when he walked into a room or the profound consciousness about his royal titles used on his official documents in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The monarch did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, as revealed, untruthful television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the issuance of books giving more troubling particulars of his conduct and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could get away with lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the press) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent family members understood that. The key objective is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in peril in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Finally, the famously indecisive sovereign was pushed additional. There was no other option. The institution had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Currently the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The primary royal to lose his designations in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a constitutional officer, theoretically able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will actually occur.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still acknowledge him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the royal family's extensive property at a royal residence.

There, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of financial support.

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

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still files in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will parliament seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the waste of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Perhaps for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The message from the royal household was plainly that the removal of titles was what the king, and especially other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Altered Approach

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the short communication showed plainly that the monarchy were siding with the complainant's account of occurrences.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed concern for the survivors: "These actions are considered essential, despite the truth that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have learned that lesson.