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It all began with a isolated photograph, arguably the most significant ever taken of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while a companion beamed suggestively in the rear.

Without that image, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a adolescent who declared she was transported across the ocean and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a member of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had openly asserted to have not heard of her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's money to settle a drawn-out lawsuit.

Years of Disgrace

Considering this, discussions of the monarchy acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and another photo of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his siblings, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his aides and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable friends given he openly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in public records: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded deference when he entered a area or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his official documents in communication to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who unaccountably pampered him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to support him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute family members understood that. The primary concern is to pass on the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least whole and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of earlier rulers, showing they are useful, accountable and responsive to their people.

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

Aftermath

Finally, the notoriously hesitant king was pushed more. There was no other option. The palace had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Now it is the loss of titles and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The primary royal to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his role in the conflict

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still defer to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Will they even say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's large property at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some sort of private allowance.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the hands of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the institution is limited. The message from the institution was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the monarch, and notably other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the short communication showed plainly that the monarchy were aligning with the complainant's version of occurrences.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are judged required, notwithstanding the reality that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-seeking and indolence that will undermine the crown. In his folly, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew appears never to have understood that lesson.