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The saga started with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever taken of a royal family member.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while a companion grinned knowingly in the background.

Absent that photograph, shot at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a teenager who said she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a individual of the monarchy?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had overtly stated to have not known about her, said he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of family funds to avert a protracted court action.

Years of Scandal

Against this backdrop, conversations of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew ambling amiably with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his family members, maybe even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his aides and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly hosted them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Trips were documented in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the presumption which expected subservience when he entered a area or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts 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 being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

The public (and the press) were far in advance of the royal family. There was not a single person of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent family members realized that. The one imperative is to transfer the crown, if not as previously at least complete and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an age when deference and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant sovereign was pressured additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Now it is the removal of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime social disgrace that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Reduction: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The initial member to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Notably stinging given his service in the engagement

He remains a constitutional officer, theoretically able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but none of these will actually happen.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Prince? Might they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

The situation continues. There are still records in the possession of American legislators to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could legislators request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Maybe for the moment the reputational impact to the monarchy is limited. The message from the institution was clearly that the removal of titles was what the king, and especially other senior family members, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the brief statement showed clearly that the institution were siding with the complainant's account of incidents.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed concern for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will undermine the institution. In his folly, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that truth.