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The saga started with a solitary photograph, possibly the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a female youth, while another individual smiled suggestively in the background.

Lacking that image, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a adolescent who said she was transported across the ocean and obliged to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing move by someone who had openly asserted to have no heard of her, said he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical resources to avert a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Considering this, conversations of the royals acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further photo of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he publicly invited them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Journeys were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the presumption which required subservience when he walked into a area or the extreme obsession about his designations used on his official documents in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his parent, who inexplicably pampered him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape lying about his interaction with a notorious figure.

The public (and the media) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was no one of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser royals recognized that. The primary concern is to hand down the monarchy, if not as previously at least intact and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of past sovereigns, proving they are useful, responsible and reactive to their citizens.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Ultimately, the notoriously hesitant sovereign was pushed more. There was no other option. The royal household had relinquished authority of the account.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the continued and permanent personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The primary monarch to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his service in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, in principle able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but not any of these will ever happen.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he encounters still defer to him? Might they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Would they say Mr,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's large grounds at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses 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 far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The statement from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of honorifics was what the sovereign, and notably other senior family members, sought.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the concise statement showed plainly that the institution were aligning with the accuser's narrative of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the reality that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the monarchy. In his stupidity, personal excess and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that lesson.