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

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that photograph, captured at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a teenager who said she was moved across the sea and forced to have cursory sexual encounters with a prince of the monarchy?

An odd, indicative action by someone who had publicly asserted to have not known about her, said he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid millions of family resources to resolve a long-delayed legal case.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has endured for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Hubris: For what duration did his siblings, possibly even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Journeys were documented in official documents: private aircraft flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the presumption which expected subservience when he walked into a room or the extreme awareness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his mother, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least remove him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his disastrous and, as revealed, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling particulars of his conduct and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could avoid deceiving about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any consequence to speak up for him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent family members realized that. The key objective is to transfer the monarchy, if not as before at least whole and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of earlier rulers, showing they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and discretion is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Finally, the famously indecisive monarch was prodded more. There was no other option. The royal household had surrendered command of the narrative.

Now it is the stripping of honorifics and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Especially painful given his service in the Falklands war

He remains a counsellor of state, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but not any of these will truly occur.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Could they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the sovereign's extensive property at a royal residence.

There, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of personal stipend.

It is not his former home, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Will legislators seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Possibly for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is contained. The statement from the institution was clearly that the stripping of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

Changed Stance

No more deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the concise announcement showed plainly that the royals were siding with the complainant's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are judged required, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-interest and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his folly, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that truth.