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The saga started with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while an associate beamed knowingly in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the royal family?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had openly claimed to have not been aware of her, asserted he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over millions of his mother's funds to settle a protracted lawsuit.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Considering this, talk of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This affair has endured for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and an additional photo of Andrew ambling amiably with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his siblings, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable companions given he publicly hosted them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Trips were documented in public records: chopper flights from the palace to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Additionally the arrogance which required subservience when he appeared in a space or the supreme obsession about his designations used on his official documents in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his conduct and that of his connections.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could escape being untruthful about his contact with a convicted criminal.

People (and the press) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent royals recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the monarchy, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of past sovereigns, proving they are useful, responsible and attentive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in peril in an time when respect and privacy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously hesitant king was prodded more. There was no other option. The palace had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the loss of titles and the continued and lifetime social disgrace that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The primary monarch to forfeit his honorifics in recent history
• Armed Forces: Particularly painful given his role in the engagement

He remains a constitutional officer, in principle able to act for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but not any of these will ever come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's large estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still documents in the custody of US Congress to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the waste of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The statement from the institution was plainly that the revocation of honorifics was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Changed Stance

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short communication showed plainly that the institution were aligning with the complainant's version of occurrences.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are considered essential, notwithstanding the reality that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the crown. In his foolishness, personal excess and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.