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The saga started with a single photograph, arguably the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, standing closely beside a female youth, while another individual smiled suggestively in the backdrop.

Absent that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a adolescent who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have perfunctory intimate contact with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, revealing action by someone who had openly stated to have no known about her, said he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's money to resolve a protracted legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

Considering this, talk of the monarchy acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and another image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Hubris: For what duration did his siblings, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his aides and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he openly welcomed them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Trips were printed in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the entitlement which demanded respect when he walked into a area or the extreme awareness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, we now know, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the issuance of biographical works giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his companions.

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

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more astute monarchical figures understood that. The primary concern is to transfer the institution, if not as before at least complete and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, dutiful and attentive to their people.

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

Consequences

Finally, the notoriously indecisive king was prodded more. There was no other option. The royal household had lost control of the narrative.

Presently the removal of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The initial monarch to forfeit his titles in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Notably stinging given his service in the conflict

He remains a royal advisor, on paper able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but neither of these will actually occur.

Coming Developments

Will people he meets still acknowledge him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr,

Of course, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's vast estate at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be supplied by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of personal stipend.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still files in the hands of US Congress to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will legislators demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the waste of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Maybe for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The statement from the institution was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the king, and notably other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short statement showed evidently that the royals were supporting the complainant's version of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they finally showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are considered essential, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-seeking and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and greed, Andrew appears never to have understood that reality.