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The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most impactful ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate smiled knowingly in the rear.

Absent that photograph, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and compelled to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling gesture by someone who had openly claimed to have not been aware of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical funds to settle a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, discussions of the monarchy acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his siblings, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his employees and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Travel were documented in public records: chopper flights from the palace to a country club and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which demanded deference when he entered a area or the extreme consciousness about his designations used on his letterheads in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his mother, who unaccountably indulged him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of books giving more grim details of his actions and that of his companions.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could escape being untruthful about his contact with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to support him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least intact and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of past sovereigns, showing they are beneficial, responsible and responsive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when deference and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Eventually, the well-known hesitant king was pushed more. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the narrative.

Presently the stripping of honorifics and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The primary monarch to forfeit his titles in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his duty in the engagement

He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr,

Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the monarchy's vast grounds at a monarchical property.

There, he will be furnished by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of private allowance.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still documents in the custody of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could legislators demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Perhaps for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the crown is contained. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the revocation of designations was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed plainly that the monarchy were siding with the complainant's narrative of events.

Furthermore, for the first time they ultimately showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are considered essential, despite the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew appears never to have learned that reality.