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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, arguably the most significant ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a female youth, while an associate smiled suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that image, shot at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a teenager who declared she was transported across the ocean and forced to have brief relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had publicly claimed to have never known about her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet handed over millions of family resources to settle a protracted legal case.

Years of Scandal

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew walking pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Hubris: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he publicly welcomed them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Travel were documented in public records: private aircraft travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which expected respect when he walked into a space or the extreme obsession about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts giving more disturbing information of his actions and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his contact with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was not a single person of any significance to support him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures understood that. The key objective is to transfer the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of previous monarchs, proving they are useful, responsible and responsive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in danger in an time when submission and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive king was prodded more. There was no alternative. The palace had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Presently the removal of designations and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The primary royal to surrender his titles in recent history
• Naval Career: Particularly painful given his role in the conflict

He is still a royal advisor, in principle able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still defer to him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

Certainly, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's vast estate at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be provided by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of financial support.

It is not his former home, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still records in the custody of American legislators to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will parliament request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Perhaps for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is contained. The statement from the palace was evidently that the removal of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

A Shift in Position

No more deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the concise statement showed clearly that the monarchy were aligning with the victim's narrative of events.

Furthermore, for the first time they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The measures are considered essential, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and indolence that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, personal excess and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that truth.