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It all began with a single photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a young woman, while a companion grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that photograph, captured at a party in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who said she was moved across the sea and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have never known about her, claimed he could never have had relations with her, and yet paid a large amount of his mother's resources to avert a protracted legal case.

Over a Decade of Scandal

In this context, talk of the royal family acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This controversy has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: For what duration did his family members, perhaps even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his aides and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he publicly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Trips were listed in royal annual reports: chopper transfers from the palace to a country club and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which expected respect when he appeared in a space or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his disastrous and, we now know, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the issuance of biographical works giving more grim particulars of his behavior and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the journalists) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser royals recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, dutiful and responsive to their people.

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

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known hesitant sovereign was pressured further. There was no other option. The palace had surrendered command of the account.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the continued and life-long personal shame that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The primary member to forfeit his honorifics in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Particularly hurtful given his service in the conflict

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he meets still show respect to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Will they even say Sir,

Certainly, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large grounds at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some form of financial support.

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

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still documents in the possession of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might legislators seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Possibly for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The message from the institution was clearly that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, sought.

Altered Approach

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the brief announcement showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the accuser's version of occurrences.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they finally showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The measures are considered essential, notwithstanding the reality that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-seeking and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his stupidity, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew appears never to have learned that reality.