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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member.

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual beamed conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Lacking that image, taken at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a young woman who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, telling gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have not been aware of her, said he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of monarchical money to avert a long-delayed legal case.

Years of Scandal

Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his employees and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly invited them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the estate to a country club and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the presumption which demanded respect when he walked into a area or the extreme consciousness about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the release of biographical works giving more grim details of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

People (and the press) were far ahead of the royals. There was not a single person of any importance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members understood that. The primary concern is to hand down the institution, if not as before at least intact and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of past sovereigns, showing they are useful, dutiful and reactive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an time when submission and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the notoriously uncertain monarch was pressured additional. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the story.

Now it is the loss of designations and the ongoing and lifetime personal shame that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first royal to surrender his designations in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly hurtful given his role in the conflict

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to act for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will actually happen.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he meets still acknowledge him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Will they even say Sir,

Of course, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive estate at a royal residence.

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

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Might legislators seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Maybe for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is contained. The message from the institution was evidently that the revocation of titles was what the sovereign, and notably other senior royals, wanted.

Altered Approach

No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the short statement showed clearly that the institution were supporting the accuser's narrative of occurrences.

Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-interest and indolence that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, personal excess and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that truth.