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

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while an associate grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing move by someone who had overtly claimed to have never been aware of her, said he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a large amount of family money to avert a long-delayed court action.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Considering this, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and another photo of Andrew walking congenially with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in public records: chopper transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Additionally the arrogance which expected deference when he appeared in a space or the profound obsession about his designations used on his correspondence in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still living. The sovereign did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the wake of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the publication of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the royals. There was no one of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent royals realized that. The key objective is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, showing they are useful, responsible and reactive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an time when respect and privacy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Eventually, the famously indecisive king was pushed further. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Now it is the stripping of honorifics and the continued and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The primary member to surrender his honorifics in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably stinging given his service in the conflict

He is still a counsellor of state, in principle able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will actually occur.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr,

Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's extensive estate at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some type of private allowance.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the waste of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the time being the institutional damage to the institution is limited. The narrative from the institution was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the sovereign, and especially other senior family members, wanted.

Changed Stance

The cessation of deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the short announcement showed plainly that the royals were supporting the complainant's version of occurrences.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, regardless of the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-interest and laziness that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have grasped that lesson.