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It all began with a isolated photograph, arguably the most consequential ever captured of a royal family member.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the rear.

Without that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who declared she was moved across the sea and compelled to have brief intimate contact with a individual of the monarchy?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had openly stated to have not heard of her, said he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over millions of monarchical funds to resolve a long-delayed court action.

A Long Period of Controversy

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting decisively to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has continued for the better part of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly welcomed them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded subservience when he appeared in a room or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his correspondence in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who unaccountably pampered him, was still living. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, we now know, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the release of biographical works giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could escape deceiving about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was not a single person of any consequence to defend him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent royals understood that. The primary concern is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and discretion is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Ultimately, the famously hesitant monarch was pressured additional. There was little choice. The institution had surrendered command of the account.

Now it is the removal of titles and the ongoing and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The initial monarch to lose his designations in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his service in the Falklands war

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

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the monarchy's extensive estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of financial support.

It is not his former home, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Might legislators seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the present the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the royal household was evidently that the removal of designations was what the sovereign, and especially other senior family members, wanted.

Changed Stance

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise statement showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the victim's narrative of events.

Even more, for the first time they eventually showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-interest and inactivity that will destroy the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that lesson.