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This episode commenced with a single photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate grinned knowingly in the rear.

Without that photograph, taken at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who stated she was moved across the ocean and obliged to have cursory relations with a member of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative action by someone who had overtly claimed to have not known about her, asserted he could not have had relations with her, and yet paid millions of his mother's funds to avert a protracted lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Considering this, conversations of the royals acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and an additional image of Andrew ambling amiably with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Hubris: How long did his siblings, maybe even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he publicly invited them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Trips were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft flights from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the arrogance which expected subservience when he appeared in a area or the extreme awareness about his royal titles used on his official documents in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more grim information of his conduct and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any significance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of past sovereigns, showing they are useful, responsible and attentive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an age when deference and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known uncertain sovereign was prodded further. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Armed Forces: Particularly painful given his service in the engagement

He is still a royal advisor, on paper able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but none of these will truly happen.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Sir,

Naturally, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's large estate at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of private allowance.

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

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the possession of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Maybe for the moment the reputational impact to the institution is contained. The message from the institution was plainly that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

A Shift in Position

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed plainly that the royals were supporting the complainant's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed concern for the victims: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the fact that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-seeking and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have understood that truth.