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It all began with a single photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate smiled suggestively in the background.

Without that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a young woman who declared she was moved across the sea and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had openly stated to have no heard of her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over millions of monarchical funds to resolve a long-delayed lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This affair has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew walking pleasantly with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his siblings, maybe even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Trips were documented in public records: helicopter flights from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Additionally the entitlement which expected deference when he walked into a area or the profound obsession about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his associates.

He could get away with it while his mother, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his catastrophic and, we now know, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more grim details of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could avoid being untruthful about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far in advance of the royals. There was not a single person of any consequence to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent family members recognized that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least whole and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are valuable, responsible and attentive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and privacy is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Eventually, the well-known uncertain king was pushed further. There was no other option. The institution had lost control of the narrative.

Presently the removal of honorifics and the continued and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The initial royal to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably hurtful given his duty in the engagement

He is still a royal advisor, theoretically able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

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

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

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still documents in the custody of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will parliament seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the misuse of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Possibly for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The message from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the king, and notably other senior royals, desired.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the brief statement showed clearly that the royals were siding with the accuser's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are considered essential, regardless of the reality that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-seeking and inactivity that will destroy the institution. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that reality.