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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, possibly the most impactful ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate beamed suggestively in the background.

Absent that image, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a teenager who stated she was moved across the ocean and compelled to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a member of the royal family?

A strange, revealing gesture by someone who had publicly stated to have no been aware of her, said he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of family resources to avert a drawn-out lawsuit.

A Long Period of Scandal

In this context, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and another photo of Andrew strolling congenially with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his siblings, maybe even his parents, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly welcomed them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Journeys were printed in royal annual reports: chopper flights from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the entitlement which required subservience when he appeared in a room or the profound obsession about his royal titles used on his official documents in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least remove him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more troubling information of his behavior and that of his companions.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could get away with lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

People (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent royals recognized that. The key objective is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of past sovereigns, proving they are valuable, responsible and attentive to their subjects.

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

The Fallout

Ultimately, the notoriously hesitant sovereign was pushed further. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the story.

Presently the removal of designations and the continued and permanent personal shame that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to forfeit his titles in recent history
• Naval Career: Especially stinging given his role in the Falklands war

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

Coming Developments

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

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

At that location, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still records in the hands of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might legislators seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the improper use of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The message from the palace was evidently that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and especially other senior family members, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the brief statement showed clearly that the institution were supporting the accuser's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed regard for the survivors: "These actions are considered essential, despite the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew appears never to have grasped that reality.