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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a female youth, while an associate grinned suggestively in the background.

Without that snapshot, shot at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a adolescent who said she was transported across the ocean and compelled to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a prince of the monarchy?

A curious, revealing action by someone who had publicly stated to have no heard of her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a large amount of family funds to settle a drawn-out legal case.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the royals acting firmly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This scandal has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he publicly welcomed them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: chopper travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded deference when he walked into a space or the profound awareness about his royal titles used on his official documents in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, we now know, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more grim information of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could get away with lying about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

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

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, responsible and reactive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an era when deference and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the notoriously uncertain monarch was prodded additional. There was no other option. The royal household had surrendered command of the narrative.

Presently the stripping of designations and the persistent and permanent personal shame that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first royal to lose his designations in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his service in the conflict

He is still a counsellor of state, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will truly happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's vast estate at Sandringham.

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

This differs from his former home, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the present the harm to the monarchy to the crown is contained. The narrative from the royal household was evidently that the revocation of titles was what the king, and notably other senior family members, wanted.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the short communication showed plainly that the royals were supporting the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Even more, for the first time they ultimately showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the truth that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and indolence that will kill the institution. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that truth.