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It all began with a solitary photograph, arguably the most significant ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a teenage girl, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Without that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a adolescent who declared she was moved across the sea and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A curious, revealing gesture by someone who had overtly claimed to have no been aware of her, said he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided millions of his mother's money to resolve a protracted lawsuit.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the better part of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew walking amiably with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Self-importance: How long did his family members, perhaps even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he openly hosted them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were listed in royal annual reports: helicopter travel from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected respect when he walked into a room or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still living. The monarch did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more troubling particulars of his conduct and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his contact with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was nobody of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The more astute royals understood that. The primary concern is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least whole and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, accountable and responsive to their people.

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

Aftermath

Ultimately, the famously indecisive sovereign was pressured additional. There was no other option. The palace had lost control of the account.

Presently the stripping of titles and the continued and permanent social disgrace that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The first monarch to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Military Service: Notably painful given his role in the engagement

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

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he meets still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Sir,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's extensive grounds at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

This differs from his prior accommodation, 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.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still documents in the hands of US Congress to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Might lawmakers seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the time being the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The message from the palace was plainly that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, sought.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the brief announcement showed plainly that the monarchy were supporting the complainant's narrative of events.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the reality that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-interest and indolence that will undermine the crown. In his folly, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew appears never to have learned that lesson.