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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, standing closely beside a female youth, while an associate smiled knowingly in the backdrop.

Absent that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who declared she was moved across the sea and compelled to have perfunctory intimate contact with a member of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had openly stated to have not been aware of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet provided a large amount of family resources to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit.

Years of Scandal

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew walking congenially with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his parents, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he openly hosted them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Trips were documented in public records: helicopter transfers from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the presumption which expected deference when he entered a room or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who inexplicably pampered him, was still alive. The monarch did at least remove him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more disturbing details of his behavior and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could escape deceiving about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the journalists) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute family members realized that. The one imperative is to transfer the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when submission and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Finally, the well-known indecisive monarch was prodded more. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Now it is the removal of titles and the ongoing and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The primary royal to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Especially hurtful given his role in the Falklands war

He is still a royal advisor, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but none of these will truly happen.

Future Prospects

Can persons he comes across still defer to him? Might they still slip up and call him Sir? Might they say Sir,

Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast estate at Sandringham.

There, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of private allowance.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still records in the custody of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Will legislators demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the waste of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is restricted. The statement from the royal household was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the king, and especially other senior royals, desired.

Changed Stance

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the short statement showed clearly that the institution were supporting the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Even more, for the first time they eventually showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are considered essential, despite the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-interest and indolence that will destroy the monarchy. In his foolishness, personal excess and greed, Andrew appears never to have learned that lesson.