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This episode commenced with a single photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, standing closely beside a young woman, while an associate smiled suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a adolescent who stated she was transported across the sea and compelled to have perfunctory intimate contact with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, revealing gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have not heard of her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet provided a large amount of monarchical money to settle a protracted lawsuit.

Years of Scandal

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This affair has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his family members, possibly even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he unabashedly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Journeys were listed in official documents: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which required respect when he appeared in a room or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in letters to his friends.

He could get away with it while his mother, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the release of accounts giving more troubling particulars of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could avoid lying about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far ahead of the royals. There was not a single person of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The wiser royals realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least intact and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of earlier rulers, showing they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an era when respect and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain king was pushed further. There was little choice. The institution had relinquished authority of the account.

Currently the loss of designations and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The primary monarch to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his duty in the conflict

He remains a royal advisor, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will ever occur.

Coming Developments

Can persons he comes across still acknowledge him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's vast estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of private allowance.

This is not his former home, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

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

• Political Pressure: Could lawmakers demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the misuse of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Possibly for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is limited. The narrative from the institution was evidently that the removal of honorifics was what the sovereign, and notably other senior royals, wanted.

Altered Approach

No more illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the short announcement showed clearly that the institution were aligning with the complainant's account of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the reality that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-interest and indolence that will undermine the crown. In his folly, personal excess and venality, Andrew appears never to have understood that reality.